tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-85941299511466291652024-03-21T18:29:34.164-07:00Around the World in the Hetzel KitchenI decided to go on an adventure. I wanted to learn. This is my journey cooking around the world.Hetzel Kitchenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07778189740199480334noreply@blogger.comBlogger102125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594129951146629165.post-25321206443422699322023-01-26T08:05:00.005-08:002023-01-26T08:05:51.831-08:00New Site<p>
</p><p>I was avoiding writing for a really long time because of how much I hated Blogger.</p>
<p>So I finally decided to do something about it!</p>
<p>I am now on Wordpress. I don't think I can redirect this site without paying money, so...sorry. You have to go there yourself.</p><p>https://aroundtheworldinthehetzelkitchen.wordpress.com/<br /></p>
Hetzel Kitchenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07778189740199480334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594129951146629165.post-27420569100972236422022-08-12T18:07:00.002-07:002022-08-12T18:07:46.279-07:00Iran<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQXSdS4tqup7KVp2npB6WDbhmYOphLuz8x9BkNwxXFf7P1VQoi-G5YX8M9YqWVP7Bdf-2_xbokyFCfAfdZlQ3dTmQY1tIkU-f8nQJa6IUj7KJvbeWs-UL4JhLEAQKetNaCzb-SBOm-vO1dKxmG46-7s_DIuP5lsQv5TAQ3Uxatq3i9Oh2ItSONJRsBtA/s4000/IMG_20220719_160628952_MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="4000" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQXSdS4tqup7KVp2npB6WDbhmYOphLuz8x9BkNwxXFf7P1VQoi-G5YX8M9YqWVP7Bdf-2_xbokyFCfAfdZlQ3dTmQY1tIkU-f8nQJa6IUj7KJvbeWs-UL4JhLEAQKetNaCzb-SBOm-vO1dKxmG46-7s_DIuP5lsQv5TAQ3Uxatq3i9Oh2ItSONJRsBtA/w400-h300/IMG_20220719_160628952_MP.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p></p><p>So here we are. My kids have convinced me to start cooking around the world again. We've decided to start with Iran, because I don't remember what I did last time. I do have the pictures though and they tell quite the story.</p><p>The rice was supposed to be crunchy on the bottom, Kevin melted his skewers, and I set a towel on fire. Oh, and Katie came to visit! </p>
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But that was then. This time, we're in Colorado! And we've decided to be ambitious. Three full Iranian recipes, because we have the manpower.</p><p>Iran is a country in the Middle East between Iraq and Pakistan. It is
over 1.6 million square kilometers, making it the 18th largest country
in the world. It is still slightly smaller than Alaska. Almost 82
million people live there, making it the 17th most populous country. The
capital is Tehran. (<i>I had actually written this paragraph back 6 or so years ago. Finally get to use it...woo!</i>)</p><p><i>I may also look at moving to WordPress where I can format things a little nicer, but we'll see. For now, no fancy embedded recipes you can jump to. Sorry.</i></p><p>First recipe! <a href="https://igotitfrommymaman.com/kabab-koobideh-recipe/" target="_blank">Kabab Koobideh - Iranian Skewers.</a> I was in charge of the prep, Kevin was in charge of the grilling. Here is my summary of the steps with absolutely no editorializing. Nope. None at all.</p><p><i>Step One</i>: Grate onions. Yes, grate them, not chop. Make the fumes and liquid fly into the air. Normally really good about not crying with chopping onions? Great! It will not help you here.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigKbN3sICEPUaYSy9EedqULjoAIZRSdWrOd7_6meD3Z7uJwQy__kFD8r6hz7I2LHNs-EkAhR9l8IePGKt_8myhu-6g2AfZg10wnyrKHTus80Kq_EyTAYjMq8az--8KO-e6Mf0tNw0bRNbx1RRkxzYGjVvuk3cphJ3ObxU4cp-qUaN9_cKV3ElL6PpocQ/s4000/IMG_20220719_132443150.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="3000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigKbN3sICEPUaYSy9EedqULjoAIZRSdWrOd7_6meD3Z7uJwQy__kFD8r6hz7I2LHNs-EkAhR9l8IePGKt_8myhu-6g2AfZg10wnyrKHTus80Kq_EyTAYjMq8az--8KO-e6Mf0tNw0bRNbx1RRkxzYGjVvuk3cphJ3ObxU4cp-qUaN9_cKV3ElL6PpocQ/s320/IMG_20220719_132443150.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><p><i>Step Two</i>: Squeeze all of the liquid out of the grated onions. Mix with other ingredients and then let rest. (We used beef, not lamb. Also turmeric, not saffron. We're on a budget here.)</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp93jHXQ2IntcvKHHog84ORUY6REGcpmlR3poxcVaNlXR1q2yHvS105puPBMC90JIaiQOuz3zf9_dz9Kdn3ydKiyrVMLmwWrMtLj2rVMqbcBfc8EYC8hXD1fiCgXeRJE6Lnc2T42nmyI6zjDXyQltpLqJn9YdYcOqsSYYj0tm4IQL7Zy0rGd_BpO_q-Q/s4000/IMG_20220719_134411066.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="4000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp93jHXQ2IntcvKHHog84ORUY6REGcpmlR3poxcVaNlXR1q2yHvS105puPBMC90JIaiQOuz3zf9_dz9Kdn3ydKiyrVMLmwWrMtLj2rVMqbcBfc8EYC8hXD1fiCgXeRJE6Lnc2T42nmyI6zjDXyQltpLqJn9YdYcOqsSYYj0tm4IQL7Zy0rGd_BpO_q-Q/s320/IMG_20220719_134411066.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><i>Step Three:</i> After it has rested for at least two hours, mold it onto a skewer.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCnXYU1sQYlKoFg2ITRuvJ8hS-IBFWWqWIsOoW6hc5OXfbmbh9dLSxhkJ4GZmvtmpNYWVEjfePolj0j1PEBB7M-BFb6cMb2Em58eunsVP6v8aD5xz3-vEpAY91jUcXNbRzukuZ4eNKQ4AV757IWah5B_NveZ31dR-vuGtBP2tR7b3mNvZsm6UndumHQg/s4000/IMG_20220719_164745406.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="3000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCnXYU1sQYlKoFg2ITRuvJ8hS-IBFWWqWIsOoW6hc5OXfbmbh9dLSxhkJ4GZmvtmpNYWVEjfePolj0j1PEBB7M-BFb6cMb2Em58eunsVP6v8aD5xz3-vEpAY91jUcXNbRzukuZ4eNKQ4AV757IWah5B_NveZ31dR-vuGtBP2tR7b3mNvZsm6UndumHQg/s320/IMG_20220719_164745406.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><p><i>Step Four:</i> Start trying to grill it directly on the heat. Wonder how it is going to hold together. Watch it all fall off of the skewers onto the bottom of the grill.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIpxmZOxD9KzBs9sWYN7nfoEKwmYszRXksvv472rBcRuTT7bJgt17Td3dJaYeNswqpqKbbzylh_kyNXv-HMEaG5E7Qm5htvzdkBivtZy6jLstuby4fRyB1tzM64Yn8uYyOBZZTmbnQ68pX0d24roUKyLzeb7POV_202YqC9lexWX4vkaot6sjX_merOQ/s4000/IMG_20220719_165359348.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="4000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIpxmZOxD9KzBs9sWYN7nfoEKwmYszRXksvv472rBcRuTT7bJgt17Td3dJaYeNswqpqKbbzylh_kyNXv-HMEaG5E7Qm5htvzdkBivtZy6jLstuby4fRyB1tzM64Yn8uYyOBZZTmbnQ68pX0d24roUKyLzeb7POV_202YqC9lexWX4vkaot6sjX_merOQ/s320/IMG_20220719_165359348.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="3000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN4sRNttdiDu1STPNSAz_l3iMB2AdCf1VhFyAYXaR8WyDJqbaXs1PGfD68o7d87EHd39i2COqv80fQCzPyYNehPg_TbsB1kP-rqRtAIY-7JugRTztV_UmVcZ3JvwcJ3Iavbl33d6jnCyIoYkfXLcBqbj5IIEk-abAjP7PM3oZGJ9QjaPfU-c1OhdnxSQ/s320/IMG_20220719_165746356_MP.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="240" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yep, that's some of the meat down there...<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN4sRNttdiDu1STPNSAz_l3iMB2AdCf1VhFyAYXaR8WyDJqbaXs1PGfD68o7d87EHd39i2COqv80fQCzPyYNehPg_TbsB1kP-rqRtAIY-7JugRTztV_UmVcZ3JvwcJ3Iavbl33d6jnCyIoYkfXLcBqbj5IIEk-abAjP7PM3oZGJ9QjaPfU-c1OhdnxSQ/s4000/IMG_20220719_165746356_MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i> Step Five:</i> Have a slight moment of panic. Decide to change course and make grilled meatballs instead. Ta-da!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrOZdj6JJoYyW1o4Um4mZe_fw7Abbeoeu_ngxplz7ugdeEVa28KJ9G-dTZzpeIOvNTSd1DoDtv_Fp_4DFEtWc_nHtHxUfnUhBjc62C7P9dzqbObMeSSm8orusImUbmuoH7kwMU4AsowogO9xIWOJ9BoOmRCb6SiKuKSDnVh4FeSYef7bSA0xmv6f0s0w/s4000/IMG_20220719_165740278.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="4000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrOZdj6JJoYyW1o4Um4mZe_fw7Abbeoeu_ngxplz7ugdeEVa28KJ9G-dTZzpeIOvNTSd1DoDtv_Fp_4DFEtWc_nHtHxUfnUhBjc62C7P9dzqbObMeSSm8orusImUbmuoH7kwMU4AsowogO9xIWOJ9BoOmRCb6SiKuKSDnVh4FeSYef7bSA0xmv6f0s0w/s320/IMG_20220719_165740278.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">While this...ummm...cluster of a grilling session was going on, my mother-in-law was making <a href="https://persianmama.com/noon-barbari/" target="_blank">Noon Barbari</a> - or Iranian Naan as we were calling it. It was a very very sticky dough.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv0ZUbHVUC7xMm1HgsGpsivQP_MYrsafrazUkWnd9lA-dRinJbNxSAyiDefqObOv7slL1PVfZpD14Jc8P13q1ipHCzKDsw0tLxM_PvYyVvm0G4ngGlWNlHWIV_I9wVUZhVdX0RgzeYTv0LYVQKkTSPCHMXiAULisuzW1MWTyGuR30PdxmyaG5Viz8eRw/s4000/IMG_20220719_162106940.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="3000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv0ZUbHVUC7xMm1HgsGpsivQP_MYrsafrazUkWnd9lA-dRinJbNxSAyiDefqObOv7slL1PVfZpD14Jc8P13q1ipHCzKDsw0tLxM_PvYyVvm0G4ngGlWNlHWIV_I9wVUZhVdX0RgzeYTv0LYVQKkTSPCHMXiAULisuzW1MWTyGuR30PdxmyaG5Viz8eRw/s320/IMG_20220719_162106940.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">There was also a lot of debate and experimentation with the Parchment Paper. First attempt was done as written. Second attempt was done by trying to move it to the Parchment Paper after shaping it. That was not good because it was so sticky. Third attempt was done without Parchment Paper. That one ended up being the winner because the paper stuck to the bottom of the bread!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9nEgADEAf719pNjidsovKmDTJcYW94zP5ZEXSz4U58COn4pOqI03IYz3uB3P_173SPTK4fiC-_78UeKQNGn1kiFIQyCAlyWEJ22-yvL2lBIZF8_YdjVczxXQBviYnEVkWvr7cGlx-ba3pc17ujhSerg4K3tZ3w26gLg0mSBIvEhhWEDr0X4Flw2uYcQ/s4000/IMG_20220719_172050908.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="4000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9nEgADEAf719pNjidsovKmDTJcYW94zP5ZEXSz4U58COn4pOqI03IYz3uB3P_173SPTK4fiC-_78UeKQNGn1kiFIQyCAlyWEJ22-yvL2lBIZF8_YdjVczxXQBviYnEVkWvr7cGlx-ba3pc17ujhSerg4K3tZ3w26gLg0mSBIvEhhWEDr0X4Flw2uYcQ/s320/IMG_20220719_172050908.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I was also making <a href="https://www.unicornsinthekitchen.com/salad-shirazi-persian-cucumber-and-tomato-salad/" target="_blank">Salad Shirazi, which is a Persian Cucumber Salad</a>. Compared to everything else it was relatively easy. If you (or your husband, *cough cough*) accidentally buys regular cucumbers instead of English or Persian ones, make sure you de-seed it.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1Sa-9FBGeJ9XKuzGtWw9_I66iVbNULGgi94SJaqL9e4WnjyiIeNTcJstCI6-u8Y5v8vhSZ_Sj7DjaLtT0KM3cMs01XVp_ZLEchv4-iFWKy0TPMRBlldBkCRcbV_dDkhAy33HCs_dpcFt5xlT8JWEIRis6MfsejJhFV621vyHDwzRJM8DmmkIOFyHYCw/s4000/IMG_20220719_161420156.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="3000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1Sa-9FBGeJ9XKuzGtWw9_I66iVbNULGgi94SJaqL9e4WnjyiIeNTcJstCI6-u8Y5v8vhSZ_Sj7DjaLtT0KM3cMs01XVp_ZLEchv4-iFWKy0TPMRBlldBkCRcbV_dDkhAy33HCs_dpcFt5xlT8JWEIRis6MfsejJhFV621vyHDwzRJM8DmmkIOFyHYCw/s320/IMG_20220719_161420156.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Instead of meat skewers we ended up with meatballs, but everything else at least looked fairly accurate.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2DjM8dVHFnpVx148iaVYkf7l2fwMvdeLwQZM_r4TnklaTc4LBgwdlJ2KLgxQITtiK53Bkt2hXcMPGRCPBlLLeWwbn0yhrzfRUUkFTPg94zpcowrYl8328ETf3MIVsMJyAHVUVVtLv-ppCCorLMFEfETiyHx-klpfPnxiD0RWTSZOnt8c9cAi9uR09ug/s4000/IMG_20220719_173218499.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="3000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2DjM8dVHFnpVx148iaVYkf7l2fwMvdeLwQZM_r4TnklaTc4LBgwdlJ2KLgxQITtiK53Bkt2hXcMPGRCPBlLLeWwbn0yhrzfRUUkFTPg94zpcowrYl8328ETf3MIVsMJyAHVUVVtLv-ppCCorLMFEfETiyHx-klpfPnxiD0RWTSZOnt8c9cAi9uR09ug/s320/IMG_20220719_173218499.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOGyzTokQD7hbtTyBKJ6X-kzIMqhT_m0fcznU_j1vMDQVjfj3pHPV_EFFjJyWq9Z-1fQrmPSpj87ASB3iKSs85hZQkOxWSvcpItxmWwL-Z8xD19TyPVnXC7luapzWdAJyUG_TM5_KoLM8TOIia2oxFR1K_u7BBDqzYKYqtijwbJm0PYchv1uQ-SOu8vg/s4000/IMG_20220719_173905459_MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="4000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOGyzTokQD7hbtTyBKJ6X-kzIMqhT_m0fcznU_j1vMDQVjfj3pHPV_EFFjJyWq9Z-1fQrmPSpj87ASB3iKSs85hZQkOxWSvcpItxmWwL-Z8xD19TyPVnXC7luapzWdAJyUG_TM5_KoLM8TOIia2oxFR1K_u7BBDqzYKYqtijwbJm0PYchv1uQ-SOu8vg/s320/IMG_20220719_173905459_MP.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It all went over really well.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The bread really picked up the subtle flavor of the sesame seeds. The meat, while I'm sure an abomination to Iranians, was quite yummy. The cucumber salad was probably my least-favorite part, but it certainly wasn't bad. My sister-in-law asked me to send her the recipe, so that's a good sign.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">All in all a good return to cooking around the world. I probably will not be as ambitious in the future, but who knows? Maybe I can get my kids chopping for all of the sides!<br /></div>Hetzel Kitchenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07778189740199480334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594129951146629165.post-81264528813924861162022-08-10T17:47:00.000-07:002022-08-10T17:47:04.781-07:00I'm...back?<p> Hey - remember when I used to do this blogging thing?</p><p>When I only had three kids?</p><p>When the kids I did have were a lot less...vocal?</p><p>So, it turns out, those kids (there are four of them now, btw) really wanted me to get back to doing this. Apparently they have opinions? I hemmed and hawed for a long time, but they said they would try to keep the house extra-clean so that I would have time for this.</p><p>We'll see.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuD5O_MFwfhltpl1OCDW4ug3AElINuGyAVN1gp_87W1VTaeVV5t-qohwqhkhF50kpL54KTRC_breTZmgmUa8JN7FFxCpdxjKNfI8IeyQgxZkNTjeNpgvPsVsvRbLo72cZ_0fUnf5Y6eImocnHhO__FhqCB8lNEcBIdbzHsYbNjlyQTb8R5wlPo1tFP4g/s4000/IMG_20220706_101020269_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="4000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuD5O_MFwfhltpl1OCDW4ug3AElINuGyAVN1gp_87W1VTaeVV5t-qohwqhkhF50kpL54KTRC_breTZmgmUa8JN7FFxCpdxjKNfI8IeyQgxZkNTjeNpgvPsVsvRbLo72cZ_0fUnf5Y6eImocnHhO__FhqCB8lNEcBIdbzHsYbNjlyQTb8R5wlPo1tFP4g/s320/IMG_20220706_101020269_HDR.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The four persuasive goofballs at Black Canyon of the Gunnison<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Then we had to decide where to go. Start over? From where I left off writing, or where I left off cooking? Because I had actually cooked several countries since I last wrote: Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, and Italy. But I didn't remember much about them, since I hadn't written it down.</p><p>So we decided to start there. Cook those countries again. Teach the kids a little about culture. Maybe learn some new cooking techniques. Have them complain about trying new things.</p><p>So, yes. I am back. We'll see how long they keep their end of the bargain so I can keep mine.<br /></p>Hetzel Kitchenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07778189740199480334noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594129951146629165.post-58156274909301453832016-09-07T19:20:00.002-07:002016-09-07T19:21:18.213-07:00Try the World: Japan<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
We're going to interrupt our regularly scheduled program to talk about Try the World.</div>
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Try the World is a subscription box where you get food from a different country with every box. I saw this and immediately knew that this was something I had to try.</div>
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My first box was France. It was nice and fun but different that what I was expecting. There were preserves and caramels and honey and tea. Those are great, but I can get them here. Yes, I know that they were French and therefore probably way more special, but I don't think my palate is discerning enough for that. Plus none of that really involved making food. I did get some finishing salt though, so that was kinda cool.</div>
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The next one was Japan. It was completely the opposite. There were some candies and caramels and tea, but most of the rest was so that you could cook one dish: Okonomiyaki. Basically, Japanese cabbage pancakes.</div>
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I was really excited to do this. New and different, yay!</div>
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Then things started to go wrong. Maybe that's not the best way to put it. Then things just didn't all work out.</div>
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First of all, Try the World said that you would have to buy some of the ingredients at your local Asian grocer. Fine. But they didn't say what. They gave me a recipe, but didn't tell me what ingredients were in the box and which weren't. And since the ingredients were labeled in Japanese, I couldn't interpret all of it.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlf8AuMbLWlthUH8wL8rIVY5nWs_b_kbz6_pcMJY5pthr1HXgqVKVRkhRE34C1sbEbPma6ZyBCXWG_H1CpehFtc48L48CJGm4snDKQViEzJqR4809fz7lN0UBlVUKXC3sJwv4MVb_t6I09/s1600/IMG_20160228_174843506.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlf8AuMbLWlthUH8wL8rIVY5nWs_b_kbz6_pcMJY5pthr1HXgqVKVRkhRE34C1sbEbPma6ZyBCXWG_H1CpehFtc48L48CJGm4snDKQViEzJqR4809fz7lN0UBlVUKXC3sJwv4MVb_t6I09/s320/IMG_20160228_174843506.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Then there were two sets of instructions. Try the World sent me one in their pamphlet. But the Okonomiyaki kit also had a set of instructions. And they weren't the same. The kit one corresponded a little better to the ingredients though...<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRjH9wiVxKtgccOpJYhRi2DUOs100GLLDYrFu1UcOZHuJw116V_m8b_EJgV9JA11avRg-hXu8ulgglcTJTRxMWmuCUgnJf5rHUqShnwEF9lM7yJV2xiYybqOUgn8RnfwH6OMohqVf-6Pef/s1600/IMG_20160228_174849190.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRjH9wiVxKtgccOpJYhRi2DUOs100GLLDYrFu1UcOZHuJw116V_m8b_EJgV9JA11avRg-hXu8ulgglcTJTRxMWmuCUgnJf5rHUqShnwEF9lM7yJV2xiYybqOUgn8RnfwH6OMohqVf-6Pef/s320/IMG_20160228_174849190.jpg" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Instructions in the kit. Sorry for the orientation.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyWNuRezxXAoE_hvO6r9k1IHScVHAGiKDxCg5WbiTzzMTxhRsIaOQRICutSnsEWdNty5ZGZo5F8Mxyt-mFWEdpA2dy4qzTiRIvGC_BschjC-Kd8s8HfI3_rgnU-sc_bEmnamzKmZwmsrXE/s1600/IMG_20160228_174856843.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyWNuRezxXAoE_hvO6r9k1IHScVHAGiKDxCg5WbiTzzMTxhRsIaOQRICutSnsEWdNty5ZGZo5F8Mxyt-mFWEdpA2dy4qzTiRIvGC_BschjC-Kd8s8HfI3_rgnU-sc_bEmnamzKmZwmsrXE/s320/IMG_20160228_174856843.jpg" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some of the instructions that Try the World sent me.</td></tr>
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I made the mistake of kinda trying to do both. I mostly followed the one in the kit, but I paid attention to the one that they sent me as well. There was a lot going on at once.<br />
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Anyway, I was supposed to shred a cabbage and mix it with some eggs, pancake mix, and a few other ingredients.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN6nn6lztu-62QqSWboTZrfczfmV7EzxI4oKfMLFwAU4nsHQOydjWHdURYExynxeWhz_gQRD1J6edqh8J5pIYxmJFAX9XeINSsS95_GGCxSBoBKkPBbp0b7s_NEOo-iXkmSvtK4Vv0hc-J/s1600/IMG_20160228_180805416.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN6nn6lztu-62QqSWboTZrfczfmV7EzxI4oKfMLFwAU4nsHQOydjWHdURYExynxeWhz_gQRD1J6edqh8J5pIYxmJFAX9XeINSsS95_GGCxSBoBKkPBbp0b7s_NEOo-iXkmSvtK4Vv0hc-J/s320/IMG_20160228_180805416.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE7AfkjrM42SmYhYbgoEAtahN6XkG3Ov3U2ZPPt5XIbRjN_MaOFM0e2Kd8FrD6L3bVxGGpXr9SF3b24A56A2h0j_QsRpwkTAJFu4dOWkXeT7KTfGM6gPpiOAH6R-S01vKLv3AQiuVi01FO/s1600/IMG_20160228_180809715.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE7AfkjrM42SmYhYbgoEAtahN6XkG3Ov3U2ZPPt5XIbRjN_MaOFM0e2Kd8FrD6L3bVxGGpXr9SF3b24A56A2h0j_QsRpwkTAJFu4dOWkXeT7KTfGM6gPpiOAH6R-S01vKLv3AQiuVi01FO/s320/IMG_20160228_180809715.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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It ended up being a ridiculous amount of cabbage. I needed less than half of it.<br />
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I also did not cut it fine enough. We had to do this after the kids were in bed since there were fish ingredients involved, so I was kinda tired and hungry and didn't quite pull this part off. So I decided to blend it. I don't remember if this was in the instructions or not. I don't think so. Or maybe just in one of them.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicoT0GsLCVSNX7bc-fVKqrXN8Mxp8phLgHPP0Slk_UlaJU0n2EJR0nkW2-ApIOlzWY8FxFOkeDWkjyr8ZF9A_mN5Vam6gMBMdCvq08ps96WRynlot6-VcGkkqr349EEKT_loE0MUCcTOVR/s1600/IMG_20160228_181552428.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicoT0GsLCVSNX7bc-fVKqrXN8Mxp8phLgHPP0Slk_UlaJU0n2EJR0nkW2-ApIOlzWY8FxFOkeDWkjyr8ZF9A_mN5Vam6gMBMdCvq08ps96WRynlot6-VcGkkqr349EEKT_loE0MUCcTOVR/s320/IMG_20160228_181552428.jpg" width="180" /></a></div>
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Now it was a lot more batter-y!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_TLe6rs6kPQY_EFqZEwUe2el7kScw3PV-YSX_z4Y1nT6LskF3eUpkPIql-Et2y8-wILJ1OhodsAnwZXWawJ0_8-MTHI8p_ckstrbgbj-T1zt0EuSbrtPkE8t5EjtaBvAPfzWh74fr-MrU/s1600/IMG_20160228_200206965.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_TLe6rs6kPQY_EFqZEwUe2el7kScw3PV-YSX_z4Y1nT6LskF3eUpkPIql-Et2y8-wILJ1OhodsAnwZXWawJ0_8-MTHI8p_ckstrbgbj-T1zt0EuSbrtPkE8t5EjtaBvAPfzWh74fr-MrU/s320/IMG_20160228_200206965.jpg" width="180" /></a></div>
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It also came with instructions and ingredients for making a cold soba noodle salad. Soba noodles are made out of buckwheat. It came with this sauce, which actually was included in the kit!<br />
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Meanwhile, you take the batter and fry it up.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJr_wgSN0-IluIBMwRM8Dm2agEBedQvvE5q_qlaO5g8HOu9JCikfgqSgCOFbG1yYkMxdiezvkOnBLhK4VF_TxIR2GNIv6dqGqS-6b4gyBc0Rx5kVoGt2TjiV1FBizG-XSaaHzfAWmunLM4/s1600/IMG_20160228_200337979.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJr_wgSN0-IluIBMwRM8Dm2agEBedQvvE5q_qlaO5g8HOu9JCikfgqSgCOFbG1yYkMxdiezvkOnBLhK4VF_TxIR2GNIv6dqGqS-6b4gyBc0Rx5kVoGt2TjiV1FBizG-XSaaHzfAWmunLM4/s320/IMG_20160228_200337979.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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You're also supposed to add some pork. It was not entirely clear what kind of pork, but I interpreted it as bacon. Because why not?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCDunb-lgYFc3epZ9uLrKLl5PoLf7owc_LXjvSD9CbJ2D5jKZdA-r2GFiwXAcBWsHUkg-5yFOeQzSyCUoKkUOJTieMHmYxZJj5mqP5Q71UxAC2SIaFwp4rfd2Q1TZmu16EVR2yxZb5l4hx/s1600/IMG_20160228_200523125.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCDunb-lgYFc3epZ9uLrKLl5PoLf7owc_LXjvSD9CbJ2D5jKZdA-r2GFiwXAcBWsHUkg-5yFOeQzSyCUoKkUOJTieMHmYxZJj5mqP5Q71UxAC2SIaFwp4rfd2Q1TZmu16EVR2yxZb5l4hx/s320/IMG_20160228_200523125.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Done frying! Now we've got a pancake and some noddle salad.<br />
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The last thing you need is the Okonomi sauce. This is apparently integral. It also didn't come in the kit.<br />
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I was also supposed to buy some Japanese mayonnaise but I decided that I couldn't justify one more thing that I would only use a tiny bit of.</div>
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The pancakes also were adorned with a few other things in the kit.</div>
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Once we got around to finally eating it was...disappointing. The texture was really awful and the actual pancake part just didn't have the greatest taste and I could barely get through a few bites. Kevin did a little better.</div>
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Neither of us liked the taste of the soba noodle salad either.</div>
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I don't blame Try the World for something I didn't like. I'm not going to like everything. But I wish the instructions had been clearer an I knew what I needed to buy. I also had to drive pretty far to get to a good Japanese store so that was kinda unfortunate.</div>
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Oddly enough, I was listening to my <a href="http://www.pri.org/stories/2016-05-27/search-okonomiyaki-addictive-japanese-pancake" target="_blank">World News podcast</a> today (yes I am several months behind) and they did a story on Okonomiyaki. Crazy! Apparently a lot of people don't like it the first time. So maybe if I get a chance to eat a real one, professionally made, I will be changing my tune.</div>
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The box did come with some yummy caramels and delicious peach candy though, so that was pretty awesome.</div>
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Overall, we did not stick with Try the World. Maybe someday when I have more time to interpret things and when they've figured it all out. But for now it was not worth the money for us. We gave all of our leftover Japanese stuff to a friend, since a lot of it had some amount of fish in it.<br />
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Next time we'll be back to our regularly scheduled program.Hetzel Kitchenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07778189740199480334noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594129951146629165.post-65216214372643027232016-04-24T12:41:00.000-07:002016-04-24T12:41:23.855-07:00Indonesia<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Indonesia is an archipelago in Southeast Asia. It is the third most populous democracy in the world and the largest majority-Muslim nation. It is the 15th largest country by area, which makes it less than three times the size of Texas. It consists of over 17,000 islands, about 6000 of which are inhabited. Over 255 million people live there, making it the 5th most populous country in the world. The capital, Jakarta, is located on the island of Java. With over 145 million people, it is the most populous island in the world.</div>
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Read more at the <a href="https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/id.html" target="_blank">CIA World Factbook</a> and, of course, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Java" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a>.</div>
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I know it has been a long time, but in case you have forgotten, I actually own a Southeast Asian cookbook. I have only gotten to use it once before, for <a href="http://hetzelkitchen.blogspot.com/2011/08/cambodia.html" target="_blank">Cambodia</a>, with some great results.</div>
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In reviewing entries to try to figure out if I had used the book for more than that I realized that we haven't done many Asia countries recently. That will certainly be changing here soon!<br />
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Even with the book, though, it was hard to find a recipe we could do. Not surprisingly, almost everything involved fish. Fish as protein, fish sauce, fish accents. Brendan's allergy made that a no-go, so our options were limited.<br />
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We were also having some friends from Church over, so we had to be able to cook for a crowd.<br />
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I picked "Extraordinary Beef Satay" and "Indonesian Grilled Chicken." Getting the ingredients was more of an adventure than I had bargained for. I asked Chad, one of our guests, where I should look for ingredients. He suggested an Asian food store about 30 minutes away. I went and found a lot of things I had been looking for for other recipes, but not Indonesian stuff. I didn't find lemongrass, Asian basil, pandanus leaves, sweet soy sauce, red finger-length chilies, OR kaffir limes. I did find bamboo skewers and sesame oil though, so close enough, right? We trekked on with substitutions, but I would not dare say it ended up authentic.<br />
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Also, the day we were doing this I realized I was out of brown sugar. I was seeing a friend at the library, so she brought me some. Exchanging powder in baggies in public places? Thanks, Carrie!</div>
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This was our marinade for the beef satay. Soy sauce with brown sugar instead of sweet soy sauce. Lemon rind instead of kaffir lime. At least these were both substitutions sanctioned by the book!<br />
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That marinated for a few hours while I started the chicken.<br />
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I had to make a seasoning paste. I used green chilies instead of red and red onion instead of shallots (I couldn't find any!) Seeing as there were only four total ingredients, we were only 50% on track.<br />
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Amelia was on nap strike that day, so Kevin was on get-her-to-sleep duty. He modeled the ideal behavior.<br />
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That paste was stir-fried with lemongrass, Asian basil, pandanus leaves, sweet soy sauce, and tomatoes. Out of all of those ingredients, the only one I really had was tomatoes. Ouch.<br />
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The book suggested I look for pananus extract, which was nowhere to be found either. The substitution I found online was vanilla plus green food coloring. Seriously. Apparently it has a slightly sweet flavor and a very bright green color.<br />
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The chicken got simmered in this not-even-close-to-Indonesian concoction. I didn't have a cover for my wok so I used a pizza pan. I'm sure it was authentic.<br />
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It came out looking kinda ghastly green.<br />
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Kevin and Chad grilled the beef. I believe it was February but actually warm enough! Jennifer and I watched the kids be kinda weirded out by the green chicken.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7DRvZs0vtBsToKzsy1jC9nxnfTFkI2a1sd3l0enPEQMo7MZwEvzqIUqiIgbCFEtezG_DCxnBP75mtRHKXzlAm3DW4FPK9AdSPUaDx-rFqUMEJUfITfLgYVr8siW0Mhz8kcfmRMZ4gpej9/s1600/IMG_20160220_180741271.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7DRvZs0vtBsToKzsy1jC9nxnfTFkI2a1sd3l0enPEQMo7MZwEvzqIUqiIgbCFEtezG_DCxnBP75mtRHKXzlAm3DW4FPK9AdSPUaDx-rFqUMEJUfITfLgYVr8siW0Mhz8kcfmRMZ4gpej9/s320/IMG_20160220_180741271.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Then they also grilled the chicken. Even though it was already cooked through, this dish gets grilled to give it a nice crispy finish.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlyl4PLiGpxgtZ3Lf8BG8UqctEuC80GxCjlgfzkWXdQxqAaqzcDhcE4bzKgURV4CtYU09iCsHHndt8Ldktz3JLtcVRAXRiN3MnlUODAtYNRKlI3y_nicqWNtD80xtYav8gZ5LDfRfMH-m9/s1600/IMG_20160220_183044877.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlyl4PLiGpxgtZ3Lf8BG8UqctEuC80GxCjlgfzkWXdQxqAaqzcDhcE4bzKgURV4CtYU09iCsHHndt8Ldktz3JLtcVRAXRiN3MnlUODAtYNRKlI3y_nicqWNtD80xtYav8gZ5LDfRfMH-m9/s320/IMG_20160220_183044877.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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I somehow didn't get a picture of it, but that white container contained Indonesian fried rice that Chad made. He even found a recipe that didn't involve fish! It came with a few different toppings to go on it.<br />
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The beef satay was really really good. The marinade brought out some great flavors in the meat. It didn't get cooked for a long time, so the sesame oil still had a great flavor and overall the combination was excellent. They cooked it just the right amount of time so that it was still a bit red in the middle too.<br />
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The rice was good too. Definitely different than Chinese fried rice. It seemed maybe a little more dry and crunchy? But rice mixed with veggies and flavors is generally a hit.<br />
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The green chicken was...fine. For all of the work with preparing the marinade, it didn't really have a lot of flavor. Seeing as over half of the ingredients were substituted, though, I don't think I can really blame the recipe. It wasn't bad, just not that exciting. Our kids ate it, but Jennifer and Chad's are slightly older and didn't really feel comfortable eating green chicken.<br />
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We liked the cooking method though. Having it already cooked and then grilling the skin gave it a nice crisp without drying it out. That is definitely a tip I could take away from this.<br />
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So Indonesia was a mixed bad in no small part because I couldn't find the right ingredients. Maybe next time I'll try a different Asian grocery store. Also, I'm not sure we could ever travel to somewhere like Indonesia with Brendan's allergy. Yikes.<br />
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Next time: <b>Iran</b>Hetzel Kitchenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07778189740199480334noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594129951146629165.post-47426098274134891632016-04-01T11:09:00.000-07:002016-04-07T13:14:44.761-07:00India the Third<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
For India the Third we mix things up a bit. This is a Northern India recipe that comes to me via my former boss in Virginia. She's actually from Pittsburgh, but we will still take her word on authentic Indian cuisine. :-)</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuZcSDk3FIvuj9hoQmgjP87wP5wXTJ87yr1Cv2RWkcYr5bdlKNZcAfVRh6OQGGrBEZB-gGxyRx0qxaOqiBtsbHh5NVNTHdCCrrUb7_sjKY3OGoRZbmNrB5BlEI7UvdlWwoCGaqmOE0IzJ5/s1600/Winter+2012+132.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuZcSDk3FIvuj9hoQmgjP87wP5wXTJ87yr1Cv2RWkcYr5bdlKNZcAfVRh6OQGGrBEZB-gGxyRx0qxaOqiBtsbHh5NVNTHdCCrrUb7_sjKY3OGoRZbmNrB5BlEI7UvdlWwoCGaqmOE0IzJ5/s320/Winter+2012+132.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We may have gotten a little excited about Christmas and I have relatively few pictures of just Joey...</td></tr>
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Not only that, but we were in Colorado! Nothing better than trying out a new <a href="http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1017746-meera-sodhas-chicken-curry?em_pos=medium&emc=edit_ck_20151024&nl=cooking&nlid=65128557" target="_blank">curry recipe</a> on the in-laws, right?</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjirOm8q66lEtYSt3O8EKJZDrQFI5QBWsbNr7EQGcDcSLzqF-diEevIlH5YrdA27nzjNp00esveNrGUrDWAMWJHt9cf_v4-3FbqhAMoEk53P57k1bmMqI169gmCB4lxn1CLj5T5D9Ox_Xsr/s1600/IMG_20160121_163544317.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjirOm8q66lEtYSt3O8EKJZDrQFI5QBWsbNr7EQGcDcSLzqF-diEevIlH5YrdA27nzjNp00esveNrGUrDWAMWJHt9cf_v4-3FbqhAMoEk53P57k1bmMqI169gmCB4lxn1CLj5T5D9Ox_Xsr/s320/IMG_20160121_163544317.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kevin prepped by sharpening some knives.</td></tr>
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First note: make sure you actually use a Dutch oven, or something that is intended to go on the stove top, not actually in the oven. It is very important.<br />
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Anyway! Cumin seeds and cinnamon sticks? Not the way I'm used to starting a heavily-spiced dish, so let's try it! And of course onions. Always onions.<br />
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I read in one of the comments to mix the chicken and yogurt and some spices ahead of time to enhance the flavor, but I can't find it for the life of me now. That's what I did though.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggpaSuuuBEWLGZktvE97884V_tabbsGFCnfkKaGX9BkyG6cnyk4DDvq6VRPui8xLDIiZx4xjbdMNeNhQkVhnfL5ZvQp1rlnhTgrdZY1ab1L7p6NRxL1MypgY9dkIis98fSA49XLHS3GxVr/s1600/IMG_20160121_165240174.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggpaSuuuBEWLGZktvE97884V_tabbsGFCnfkKaGX9BkyG6cnyk4DDvq6VRPui8xLDIiZx4xjbdMNeNhQkVhnfL5ZvQp1rlnhTgrdZY1ab1L7p6NRxL1MypgY9dkIis98fSA49XLHS3GxVr/s320/IMG_20160121_165240174.jpg" width="180" /></a></div>
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The girls enjoyed a snack while mama had to make dinner instead of entertaining them. So unreasonable!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeidxV-TDR8Kluslb1F2S0ClZIMfXjo-t2jyVxMHJmreezpSfK1zsydiUBOW_A47I3OG0ytjd3eQF9AJ3acFMKyh0EN3qy_wF7k_jedZXDo_5OzliMf6Rkhw4N5pw5GVAOl0xPKDUVjaQ5/s1600/IMG_20160121_165317724.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeidxV-TDR8Kluslb1F2S0ClZIMfXjo-t2jyVxMHJmreezpSfK1zsydiUBOW_A47I3OG0ytjd3eQF9AJ3acFMKyh0EN3qy_wF7k_jedZXDo_5OzliMf6Rkhw4N5pw5GVAOl0xPKDUVjaQ5/s320/IMG_20160121_165317724.jpg" width="180" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik9RRKPD-oGtSciTRsk6UOyvoDkMxaP1eK0a5BQtOihum3ahjoKndTSdlW2hfzs8ChTFa04224gvQC95jp4TpcWYhKs9JFxXWXsvI51wXT77L951n2kymLUZPmDiBYR2cXzLUxRbz_xajL/s1600/IMG_20160121_165339437.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik9RRKPD-oGtSciTRsk6UOyvoDkMxaP1eK0a5BQtOihum3ahjoKndTSdlW2hfzs8ChTFa04224gvQC95jp4TpcWYhKs9JFxXWXsvI51wXT77L951n2kymLUZPmDiBYR2cXzLUxRbz_xajL/s320/IMG_20160121_165339437.jpg" width="180" /></a></div>
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The nephew did not approve of my chopping technique.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5qq40czLkp7d1vkTtgKyJTLg3pKxQYJDiseBmOp5Sgx5j2TP3b8d6fNgIwthok9Mj38jsPB-V57X4QYJ-FuPLer3nGy5IqI-8WtXLd1QxR-goDBF3V7pNm_DHA9aGm8HJPvjSAfmsNSf2/s1600/IMG_20160121_170057840.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5qq40czLkp7d1vkTtgKyJTLg3pKxQYJDiseBmOp5Sgx5j2TP3b8d6fNgIwthok9Mj38jsPB-V57X4QYJ-FuPLer3nGy5IqI-8WtXLd1QxR-goDBF3V7pNm_DHA9aGm8HJPvjSAfmsNSf2/s320/IMG_20160121_170057840.jpg" width="180" /></a></div>
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I used a little mini food-processor/spice grinder instead of a mortar and pestle. The next few parts all went pretty fast and furious, so there aren't many pictures. I caught up again when the chicken/yogurt mixture got added to the onions, tomato paste, and spices.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqwD0SV7eXgeWLllWcANjYiaEdc4l8XQQInOtKDJgAzUpPylDtJSA6eKE_RI6oMMSxVzOTFagCx700-tH3Dqu1dZSvelhE2QF7hkIUk9UMKFt1BdA7-re06MB2k9bT0gITR4244ggrNA8o/s1600/IMG_20160121_173044495.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqwD0SV7eXgeWLllWcANjYiaEdc4l8XQQInOtKDJgAzUpPylDtJSA6eKE_RI6oMMSxVzOTFagCx700-tH3Dqu1dZSvelhE2QF7hkIUk9UMKFt1BdA7-re06MB2k9bT0gITR4244ggrNA8o/s320/IMG_20160121_173044495.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Then that just cooks for a while! There's really not a ton to it, just a lot a lot a lot of chopping.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoLMPLkB8l3gWXzfv7AJGgub6DnZhiQIpcoR6jeqyicWpJbZnGrhUrCEES0ZrqOCukrihDNwBlr1AqCUo6Dm9-xON62yJY0FLSt55oBwsXW2v5MqVl8ZT355fIw6juxAfRGwZRsk3kpEhb/s1600/IMG_20160121_181426058.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoLMPLkB8l3gWXzfv7AJGgub6DnZhiQIpcoR6jeqyicWpJbZnGrhUrCEES0ZrqOCukrihDNwBlr1AqCUo6Dm9-xON62yJY0FLSt55oBwsXW2v5MqVl8ZT355fIw6juxAfRGwZRsk3kpEhb/s320/IMG_20160121_181426058.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Serve over rice or naan!</td></tr>
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This was pretty good. Definitely not what I have come to expect from a curry. More sweet than spicy. Now, I did not add the extra cayenne pepper because I was worried about the spiciness of the fresh peppers. However, those didn't end up having much of a kick, so that toned it down a lot. I think a little bit of extra spice would really up the complexity.<br />
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We're a pretty spice-happy family, so I think that is what I would change if I were to cook it again. More spice, less sweet. But it was certainly a nice change of pace and pretty yummy, especially if you don't like spicy but want to try some curry.<br />
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And then our India adventure comes to an end. It was fun, but we have to move on if we are going to actually make any progress.<br />
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Next time: <b>Indonesia</b>Hetzel Kitchenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07778189740199480334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594129951146629165.post-85963773588389425532016-03-02T13:33:00.001-08:002016-03-02T13:33:50.032-08:00India the Second<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
This is another recipe from Sadie, and therefore from the Kerala region. We went the vegetarian route this time and picked <a href="http://www.food.com/recipe/aloo-gobi-84324" target="_blank">Aloo Gobi</a>, a cauliflower dish. According to the description this food is in Bend it Like Beckham? I don't remember that particular scene but I now have some high school religion class memories coming back...</div>
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It said to cut the cauliflower into eighths, which still made some pretty big chunks. Eight of them, in fact. I think this part may have either been lost in translation or I had an abnormally large head of cauliflower.<br />
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I also apparently didn't take pictures during the process? As always, it started by sauteeing some onions. Then more coriander (but really cilantro), turmeric, and other spices. Seeing any similarities from last time?<br />
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There were also potatoes in addition to the cauliflower to get coated in the curry sauce. It called for Garam Masala as well and more cilantro added at the end. I'm seeing lots of trends.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipb_RQfRblaS7e3hCENHM_VcnLKZHprBzOvpTB9_8xpKZAmeAKPegTh09cDzY61HRGtswnC5lh0qUSsykqbcJKZwxeTlJpHEa-ewkC-R5JHvAcaT_iVTFgysRXdyvRONWJUmHs-FoPc421/s1600/IMG_20151214_154808939.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipb_RQfRblaS7e3hCENHM_VcnLKZHprBzOvpTB9_8xpKZAmeAKPegTh09cDzY61HRGtswnC5lh0qUSsykqbcJKZwxeTlJpHEa-ewkC-R5JHvAcaT_iVTFgysRXdyvRONWJUmHs-FoPc421/s320/IMG_20151214_154808939.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Completed dish: very colorful.</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9MMPf3kNmCYLc9utOm5eNe7wtyqmDCOVoobQ53heK5O3YVyXN_u4YMB_RIV427BC5il5yvF6r-_FUIgaxxUT423yZYtNhpBVRCI9-NkRWrLZGdDaXIe5GU6aoDG9R4qeljNdLR4sGKWEh/s1600/IMG_20151214_174831416.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9MMPf3kNmCYLc9utOm5eNe7wtyqmDCOVoobQ53heK5O3YVyXN_u4YMB_RIV427BC5il5yvF6r-_FUIgaxxUT423yZYtNhpBVRCI9-NkRWrLZGdDaXIe5GU6aoDG9R4qeljNdLR4sGKWEh/s320/IMG_20151214_174831416.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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The pieces of cauliflower that ended up breaking apart and therefore actually getting spices all over them were really yummy. That part worked really well. But the giant eighth-of-a-head ones? Not so much. Most of it was just plain cauliflower and not even perfectly cooked or anything.<br />
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The girls loved it though.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4STT6HASJKtQbQ3HMCg6T8bn8TDGrM56JkOzrxRDX04zmGDMUsinidCMYPXUkw2JBFFLzeFPtzFrlnDag6xyIfwEi7byMvIrZLC2qF5fYgZZd6MmNDYvPI7UjVJLdmNFIzlFaFjcGfEEj/s1600/IMG_20151214_174843212.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4STT6HASJKtQbQ3HMCg6T8bn8TDGrM56JkOzrxRDX04zmGDMUsinidCMYPXUkw2JBFFLzeFPtzFrlnDag6xyIfwEi7byMvIrZLC2qF5fYgZZd6MmNDYvPI7UjVJLdmNFIzlFaFjcGfEEj/s320/IMG_20151214_174843212.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Emily likes eating Indian food and markers.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAuDHBRtqmiQsoD3oIluWT0ms6j-rb9Nv4yZp-dCgkj0Xl7_AgsD9nOXcEIKFz4HWUT0jamaGQig2w8LJTmsoj1119keD_rJQpPP3uI306uUFvloJy413rX9X441FS1qOIooc0Y3jXa4yl/s1600/IMG_20151214_174846756.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAuDHBRtqmiQsoD3oIluWT0ms6j-rb9Nv4yZp-dCgkj0Xl7_AgsD9nOXcEIKFz4HWUT0jamaGQig2w8LJTmsoj1119keD_rJQpPP3uI306uUFvloJy413rX9X441FS1qOIooc0Y3jXa4yl/s320/IMG_20151214_174846756.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Amelia says cheeeeeeeeese.</td></tr>
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I think this recipe is worth trying, just cut up your cauliflower more thoroughly. It had a decent kick but wasn't overwhelming by any stretch. A little bit closer to Indian food I have had here in the states, but still different enough to make it a good thing to try.<br />
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One more stop in India before I made myself move on!<br />
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Next time: <b>India the Third</b>Hetzel Kitchenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07778189740199480334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594129951146629165.post-63543776118402371652016-02-13T05:06:00.000-08:002016-02-13T05:06:32.798-08:00India<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/kumaravel/8592696398/in/photolist-e6iPgU-bwJeTm-DPsd6-cVjz6m-9yC634-cWv7oS-66WSsm-55LZBr-a3z7aC-5yVq12-amy4Ty-bBmqH1-PMUyH-aoDXSu-are8GS-bAgjqg-as7k3x-8jeG4M-7eLq9e-e5WfrD-9M94dJ-aTL6cv-6drfkR-8XFfch-9MEevU-8rE58A-e5jp9t-arDzJQ-dWqNhf-dKTawN-aj4VCU-9QRg6C-e5KBUb-8PoB6t-aqaXQ1-75v5ex-8crEAb-anCdCz-5mmAqB-6iZojz-4bm8sP-8MeJar-bC98D9-a8YfX5-9mjGqv-8by6m5-9dZ9oA-aeS5xa-7JW7A4-89EWsj" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Colorful Fishing Trawlers"><img alt="Colorful Fishing Trawlers" height="266" src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8239/8592696398_f455c1853f_k.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://flic.kr/p/e6iPgU" target="_blank">Picture from the state of Kerala, India courtesy of user Thangaraj Kumaravel on Flickr</a>.</td></tr>
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India has an incredibly long and rich history which I could not do justice in this blog. Suffice to say there are a lot of influences in India and it influences the world. It is in Southern Asia and is the seventh biggest country in the world. It is slightly more than a third the size of the US. The World Factbook lists at least 13 spoken languages. It has the second highest population in the world at over 1.2 billion. <a href="https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/in.html" target="_blank">Read more!</a></div>
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India is a country I've been looking forward to since starting this journey. I had some grand plans. Different recipes from different parts of the country! Sharing food with friends! Finding some amazing curries!</div>
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I got some of this done. I did multiple Indian recipes, but not necessarily from widely varying areas. Instead I asked some people I know that either lived in India for a while or had Indian ties to send me some recipes and I tries some of those. I would love to do more later but I eventually realized I had to move on or I would never get past it. So these definitely aren't representative of the whole country, but it's a start.</div>
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First up was <a href="http://www.food.com/recipe/chicken-biryani-316697" target="_blank">Chicken Biryani</a> suggested by my friend Sadie. She said she ate this in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerala" target="_blank">Kerala</a>, a southern Indian state on the coast.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd1Tnr-XnOEegPW8pQMRzxYEKVxlPDpSRH7YLdUztDXym2qJSLr02P3BAm95WVvVWcXm4iu6mO9wfK1Hl03BWUz6jP9E7hzLwXyzLDGl3AyoYHRYguGnZ5LDcLngvhiUmbxwdLQvWezgI3/s1600/IMG_20151121_163752505.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd1Tnr-XnOEegPW8pQMRzxYEKVxlPDpSRH7YLdUztDXym2qJSLr02P3BAm95WVvVWcXm4iu6mO9wfK1Hl03BWUz6jP9E7hzLwXyzLDGl3AyoYHRYguGnZ5LDcLngvhiUmbxwdLQvWezgI3/s320/IMG_20151121_163752505.jpg" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rice from India. Good start.</td></tr>
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Right from the start I didn't have curry paste. I had curry powder. I added water to it. Correct? I don't really know.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWYA-TflEWbjgU_QWiYhUyToYhrUOcSdO9AROA1CXesG9Bir_bU-H2jmco3b5_vb9UUy1BTsNEg0r3maStDmJbBWEQehl3ANwXE1JIGYKyofbet5K3mOZDUNqk-2WD5nNszuugzvPcdU-o/s1600/IMG_20151121_165831658.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWYA-TflEWbjgU_QWiYhUyToYhrUOcSdO9AROA1CXesG9Bir_bU-H2jmco3b5_vb9UUy1BTsNEg0r3maStDmJbBWEQehl3ANwXE1JIGYKyofbet5K3mOZDUNqk-2WD5nNszuugzvPcdU-o/s320/IMG_20151121_165831658.jpg" width="180" /></a></div>
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Also, cooking with kids is sometimes a bit difficult. The solution is to strap them to you!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc1GRY8M08GRc5ythdjOo0iyZaoEnwHrpD6RV-InAosD2A-vb7tor7wQScwTe_gfetAuo2Ug4lfl7Hb5IrN0OMhvR2SUznlMZBWRLRjaIPMOzP9lFFtxRWAvCOqkE5TTIeNs0_ZoqCn_Mk/s1600/IMG_20151121_165309033.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc1GRY8M08GRc5ythdjOo0iyZaoEnwHrpD6RV-InAosD2A-vb7tor7wQScwTe_gfetAuo2Ug4lfl7Hb5IrN0OMhvR2SUznlMZBWRLRjaIPMOzP9lFFtxRWAvCOqkE5TTIeNs0_ZoqCn_Mk/s320/IMG_20151121_165309033.jpg" width="180" /></a></div>
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Anyway, this recipe had a fairly standard beginning. Fry some onion and spices in butter. Was this the first thing people learned how to cook? Because it seriously seems to be global.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkYiKfqPm9m6aX3yrSegPkNinKlZZqLZUVb2TWyWJHMnFABXC8r05x7-djAHgITfUC6MXnfGK5A9jG6SRWN32zzDiFeUnGlEYFZnyFcJ3V2xV9WdVSLNLao4AeE2L_R62oJu8yX6IJtYoU/s1600/IMG_20151121_165120817.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkYiKfqPm9m6aX3yrSegPkNinKlZZqLZUVb2TWyWJHMnFABXC8r05x7-djAHgITfUC6MXnfGK5A9jG6SRWN32zzDiFeUnGlEYFZnyFcJ3V2xV9WdVSLNLao4AeE2L_R62oJu8yX6IJtYoU/s320/IMG_20151121_165120817.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Okay! Turmeric, chicken, and curry paste as a go. This one really ended up being pretty easy.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg__wmwP1g0VJfBvvzniTYmdzOkssPaNAa5tYRC49whqq64OQWptSPhKUyTCVG4gWk8AxQgsvYPXimxNNQBkHSGGs9ZY5vWwDSeJ87HA5S_BZo-hdsTns7s0NcejX7eMvGxF734McMthUj/s1600/IMG_20151121_165940350.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg__wmwP1g0VJfBvvzniTYmdzOkssPaNAa5tYRC49whqq64OQWptSPhKUyTCVG4gWk8AxQgsvYPXimxNNQBkHSGGs9ZY5vWwDSeJ87HA5S_BZo-hdsTns7s0NcejX7eMvGxF734McMthUj/s320/IMG_20151121_165940350.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Sadie sent me a recipe for homemade bread, but we just used some naan from Costco. This stuff is seriously amazing.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNbco915AJyeMsjR4iaLLckdU9jpOitYQ8hpxs_Vu8zWfkbr8lvvLy4nZznegKEQRUY-cUAw8NaTVBSHOEgJBa3kN3m8DjEaaCOi7LdUrhgLs59tIT2j05yFq4YhIbtT-1-3YkW5ngdwH6/s1600/IMG_20151121_172403622.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNbco915AJyeMsjR4iaLLckdU9jpOitYQ8hpxs_Vu8zWfkbr8lvvLy4nZznegKEQRUY-cUAw8NaTVBSHOEgJBa3kN3m8DjEaaCOi7LdUrhgLs59tIT2j05yFq4YhIbtT-1-3YkW5ngdwH6/s320/IMG_20151121_172403622.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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I got a little worried when it wanted me to add the rice and raisins but then only cook for five minutes plus ten minutes of sitting off of the heat. What kind of rice cooks that quickly?<br />
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Apparently basmati. Other recipes we found had similar cooking times. Amazing! I still have some leftover from that bag, but I'll have to see when I need some more quick rice.<br />
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This time I realized that coriander meant cilantro and actually put in the right stuff.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi51oSoCthGxgcU9-PCVoqYOoc_1T1BR7DXJMzCBzqRmT5BvYMOQ3uh5Ln0OQjAsm_g9hNA0-hVo069vekYrrIXZ6gH_kXofCBkqzbsMo1cPet38yD2LPS9YQWkFdX-NqckI4vKwGoBbhg0/s1600/IMG_20151121_173309082.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi51oSoCthGxgcU9-PCVoqYOoc_1T1BR7DXJMzCBzqRmT5BvYMOQ3uh5Ln0OQjAsm_g9hNA0-hVo069vekYrrIXZ6gH_kXofCBkqzbsMo1cPet38yD2LPS9YQWkFdX-NqckI4vKwGoBbhg0/s320/IMG_20151121_173309082.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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We ignored the almonds because I wanted Kevin to eat it.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirpsA7NWj0zB5GRVCz5JKCDfMGC0CbOeHTW29hI_JmILWt_J7viT7sYeY0jnTVZ0SzpU3xvESq2G_hMdn36n5U0tR75UiBRR-RF2X_B7lDnz9ccuW5qgNmRVQLvFrygOIQjJ0-aqvtf5bY/s1600/IMG_20151121_173952867.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirpsA7NWj0zB5GRVCz5JKCDfMGC0CbOeHTW29hI_JmILWt_J7viT7sYeY0jnTVZ0SzpU3xvESq2G_hMdn36n5U0tR75UiBRR-RF2X_B7lDnz9ccuW5qgNmRVQLvFrygOIQjJ0-aqvtf5bY/s320/IMG_20151121_173952867.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Everyone liked this one. The girls devoured it. Definitely a nice solid dish. It wasn't what I would generally consider "Indian" but again that is like saying jambalaya isn't American because all you've had are burgers. A little bit sweeter than I was used to and a little bit less saucy. There wasn't much that was spicy in there and there was no yogurt, so that accounts for a lot of it.<br />
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Pretty solid start to India. We're not done!<br />
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Next time: <b>India the Second</b>Hetzel Kitchenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07778189740199480334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594129951146629165.post-48495389114376552432016-02-05T12:14:00.000-08:002016-02-05T12:14:04.152-08:00Iceland<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/aigle_dore/10152330346/in/photolist-gt8m7o-getEgS-gett4S-getDiR-mN8HBn-fL2z4u-fSxZGz-yiAg2h-getqcj-zkCTZG-yXzc7B-getFvs-pVd4r8-nuUSuA-yiAZVy-zDabri-brM4EA-zzXq7b-nuURRo-nuUQM7-zChPtF-nKmSf9-nuUR8C-mRuS5p-yFfKpS-getSHh-getDaf-geudsp-yAff3v-yB6E8D-getran-zBb8mm-zkEhgG-nKmSBm-zDbj52-nKmSnU-mRHvPP-gfXUVR-getsG9-gfXHzo-zkKPhv-zQcb77-gtHnG7-abHzu9-zzYFuy-zDaUR8-nM7gV8-nPbSuF-nuUDvk-zkEdvW" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="iceland"><img alt="iceland" height="243" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7345/10152330346_bd9be15290_k.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/aigle_dore/10152330346/in/photolist-gt8m7o-getEgS-gett4S-getDiR-mN8HBn-fL2z4u-fSxZGz-yiAg2h-getqcj-zkCTZG-yXzc7B-getFvs-pVd4r8-nuUSuA-yiAZVy-zDabri-brM4EA-zzXq7b-nuURRo-nuUQM7-zChPtF-nKmSf9-nuUR8C-mRuS5p-yFfKpS-getSHh-getDaf-geudsp-yAff3v-yB6E8D-getran-zBb8mm-zkEhgG-nKmSBm-zDbj52-nKmSnU-mRHvPP-gfXUVR-getsG9-gfXHzo-zkKPhv-zQcb77-gtHnG7-abHzu9-zzYFuy-zDaUR8-nM7gV8-nPbSuF-nuUDvk-zkEdvW" target="_blank">Photo of the Aurora in Iceland courtesy of Flickr user Moyan Brenn via Creative Commons</a></i></td></tr>
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Iceland is an island in Northern Europe, northwest of the UK. It has been fully independent since 1944, and also had three hundred years of independence starting in the 900's. It is about the same size as Kentucky and has a population of over 300,000. It has very high literacy, longevity, and social cohesion. Read more at the <a href="https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ic.html" target="_blank">CIA World Factbook</a>.</div>
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I knew that Iceland was going to be difficult. An island nation does not mesh well with a fish allergy. When I saw that fermented shark, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%C3%A1karl" target="_blank">Hakarl</a>, was the national dish it was off to a bad start. They traditionally made use of all parts of an animal, so I found a number of references to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Svi%C3%B0" target="_blank">Svio</a>, or boiled lambs head. I had to go in a different direction.</div>
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After some searching, I found an <a href="http://www.food.com/recipe/icelandic-asparagus-ham-bake-218179" target="_blank">Icelandic Asparagus Ham Bake</a>. It seemed kinda like making a frittata which was familiar enough but definitely had some new stuff going on too. It <i>claims </i>to be very popular in Iceland.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhakhEQxnebgiWvzZuKE3r7MEG-dRGl4bFv1OmoRCS5sw8gB4e1-yBgv866YoSDvk6GZ4YdOWOsCglzH5rYY9ImSsTgKY_bLGlCTVzT0cg66yFBvhuq6vhMMAMeMQM7D_0DMcXwiAhOFrYa/s1600/IMG_20151101_152121964.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhakhEQxnebgiWvzZuKE3r7MEG-dRGl4bFv1OmoRCS5sw8gB4e1-yBgv866YoSDvk6GZ4YdOWOsCglzH5rYY9ImSsTgKY_bLGlCTVzT0cg66yFBvhuq6vhMMAMeMQM7D_0DMcXwiAhOFrYa/s320/IMG_20151101_152121964.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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I used fresh asparagus instead of canned, so I didn't have any of those "juices" to add to the torn bread pieces. I'm not even sure I knew I could get canned asparagus.<br />
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I used my normal Costco wheat bread and the liquid from the mushrooms to create a mush. This was definitely something new. The eggs just made it more gooey.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyNw6YO4kaqgMbLDAsdvE45yOEM9Od_ZmLfHduhCT4sxgdSm09apcNGjfdgLhJxzpID-FNhU8avphSuWtCeOODnmvZ2w6SwzabwkGMTRHgqr73ovrsW3i8KdQlfKlha9e8wEHDlhCg0Tzf/s1600/IMG_20151101_171321176.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyNw6YO4kaqgMbLDAsdvE45yOEM9Od_ZmLfHduhCT4sxgdSm09apcNGjfdgLhJxzpID-FNhU8avphSuWtCeOODnmvZ2w6SwzabwkGMTRHgqr73ovrsW3i8KdQlfKlha9e8wEHDlhCg0Tzf/s320/IMG_20151101_171321176.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Next was the cream cheese, mayo, ham, and veggies. I think around now I decided it most definitely wasn't a frittata. The eggs were not the main deal here. Also the asparagus didn't break up a ton, probably because they were fresh instead of canned. I did what I could.<br />
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After being topped with cheese and baked, this is how it came out. Hmm, back to the frittata estimation again? At least it doesn't look unappetizing!<br />
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No, starfruit is not a traditional Icelandic fruit. However, we have been letting Brendan pick out a new fruit or vegetable when we go to the store so we can all expand our palettes, hoping that if he picks it out he will be more likely to try it. That particular experiment has mixed results.<br />
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This "experiment" into Icelandic cooking, however, was not so great. The texture was bizarre. Soggy bread plus cream cheese really just didn't meld too well here. It wasn't inedible, but the leftovers got ignored. And ignored. In fact, none of it seemed to go well. Maybe canned asparagus is the secret? If so, that is not what I would have expected.<br />
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Everyone loved the starfruit though. That was a good choice, Brendan!<br />
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Next time: The saga of <b>India </b>begins.Hetzel Kitchenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07778189740199480334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594129951146629165.post-44618374787101179982016-02-01T10:47:00.000-08:002016-02-01T10:47:37.217-08:00Hungary<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYIyCnX0Q5fO7xMuCbOh8A37i1MLrAYo7yhI_JL5Ltuo3M7XNpRw4zStHg3kIvhXk25902tn0XFTcMf_buFCtYQwOdBBETx1_gq82HraFv0YXsH4lzIrzh7FcutuMgmOi3ravEfQNn_GrT/s1600/7814848786_edecec146c_z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYIyCnX0Q5fO7xMuCbOh8A37i1MLrAYo7yhI_JL5Ltuo3M7XNpRw4zStHg3kIvhXk25902tn0XFTcMf_buFCtYQwOdBBETx1_gq82HraFv0YXsH4lzIrzh7FcutuMgmOi3ravEfQNn_GrT/s320/7814848786_edecec146c_z.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/archer10/7814848786/in/photolist-cUz9hb-c6aqbo-caoFDb-c6actY-c9XWuN-cUx2Eh-cUx8VG-cUxfxL-c5XL4S-c6ahjf-captKN-c9XMjA-iKBHH1-c4RFrJ-cUz5GY-idiMi7-cUz1Dy-i6Zi8T-c6ag9J-iHZSqs-cUxcBJ-BBBLzH-imy5Er-cUxba5-dAN9yp-dzeF89-i5K84h-4ZLNyr-nefwGG-75xGxj-tTdexk-cUgKVm-Bz12i4-e91fkc-oAMHky-pviKqo-2CBTQv-i52ztB-c4RSmU-heutS5-a8ckTb-6LpALy-Byz6he-2DD79L-c5t3z7-edKSt4-qXkpqx-capoSL-fEBrpj-edRxyb/" target="_blank">Photo courtesy of Flickr user Dennis Jarvis via Creative Commons</a></i></td></tr>
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Hungary is a Central European country about the same size as Indiana. It is landlocked and the capital is Budapest. For more information, see the <a href="https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/hu.html" target="_blank">CIA World Factbook</a>.<br />
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I knew what I wanted to do for Hungary before I ever got there. <a href="http://www.budapestbylocals.com/hungarian-goulash.html" target="_blank">Goulash</a>. I remember loving it when my grade school served that for hot lunch (although, in retrospect, it was probably "American Goulash.") My in-laws mentioned it when they visited Hungary. The World Factbook even calls their liberalizing their economy "Goulash Communism." There really was no choice here.<br />
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Best yet, my in-laws brought some paprika back from Hungary for me, so when the recipe called for Hungarian paprika I could definitively check it off the list.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4mBWkhFTl8gIwgHzesc3rOHKEKkZw031M4XKJD6ayPDaPvK1tQ3cRURWEnb6YW1qA_hBBf1D5SpmtbODXToI5w9enF4kFf7CMw6FftZe76Tw7ZnzHZwFniWEA8AJWfu6FNex3QLKtmc1O/s1600/IMG_20151005_135811639.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4mBWkhFTl8gIwgHzesc3rOHKEKkZw031M4XKJD6ayPDaPvK1tQ3cRURWEnb6YW1qA_hBBf1D5SpmtbODXToI5w9enF4kFf7CMw6FftZe76Tw7ZnzHZwFniWEA8AJWfu6FNex3QLKtmc1O/s320/IMG_20151005_135811639.jpg" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And in Hungarian!</td></tr>
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Somehow when I put this recipe into my meal planner (Plan To Eat...if you're interested, let me know!) it doubled the recipe, so I double-bought a lot of things. Like parsnips. Which is a fairly new vegetable for me.<br />
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Brendan helped by chopping these babies up. He just has a butter knife, but it worked quite well. He thinks it is pretty fun. My plan is to have him not have some of the normal "bachelor cooking problems" a lot of people have when they leave home. Chopping parsnips at 3 has to help, right?<br />
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Cooking the recipe was relatively straight-forward. Onion and paprika, then meat, then start adding some flavor.<br />
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It said, however, that it wanted the meat to turn white. I'm not sure what was up with that. Mine didn't. It was brown. Like beef normally does.<br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">It had my </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">favo</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">rite kind of instructions: vague. "<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 22.5px;">You’ll probably have to add some more (2-3 cups) water too." And what is a </span></span>celery<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; line-height: 22.5px;"> leaf?</span><br />
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I did have a fresh green pepper from the garden. Yay veggies!<br />
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I did not make the csipetke noodles (they were optional anyway) but did homemade bread in the bread maker instead.<br />
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To give you an idea of how long ago this was, we ate outside.<br />
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The goulash was meh. Nothing great. It kinda felt like cooked meat in tomato-water. It didn't really gel together or anything like that. Nothing melded and the broth was really really weak. I don't think we ended up eating all of the leftovers.<br />
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I'm sure goulash in Hungary is delicious. Anyone that wants to fund my research on this supposition, I am all ears.<br />
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Next time: <b>Iceland</b>Hetzel Kitchenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07778189740199480334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594129951146629165.post-9345453924006566072016-01-28T13:55:00.001-08:002016-01-28T13:55:29.832-08:00Recap #3 51-75<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img aria-label="Photo - Portrait - Nov 8, 2015" class="SzDcob" height="400" jsname="uLHQEd" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/_wB1PfMsUz2Pq05QeRWdtnQU285IOc3S5lJ0M7sBbIZ6CRuVdJ_-yd5-ry2qpU0mwBFXJAMhumngOPEOisKKdaBDmDzZ-HR5r1OJnMBBB08yU4OAJzFmZJumsMTfdx0Px51nLcR35fWy-2I-QT8ri48ueEgnlS7A1vens-kA-n1hE5d5CRu5LQP_fzD8ldt7gIPQXPky-DVeFv8nhMLN0VGF-w0gRDFyiO8AzvRPn7SkK05wKyzFGLdkftG2hgsAstHZr_mNCIwFRlCMQ7LaSJRlxu3NrVr2BpZBoWY6t1AHhrAz80CC333AbF-G32J1Q56nYcXYyADbKzA-olZDRV-orCDXX5BwU7azn0KZBcjNCGgF6ukadzI5sIti0kMT2w19Uoviqut-H0wV06inaJhfr5yA0zJ0zS9gUewlD16fLePvJn8hBrdobk6BosS8EKPL9x5DEJPk1Krf4YsxzbWj6yuOA5zwxOFnddcxeWT8CnJ_5bp31GJKa2SXEsCFPsyNy8YWkHBlxYwmXonZtzw3EX7b--P2w2bocaULcPydtr0KFriFcmQgCLS-mqQxBWY94g=w539-h957-no" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; transform: translate3d(0px, 0px, 0px) rotate(0deg);" width="225" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">These children weren't born when I started this set. Here we are training them to take over. They'll be cooking the meals themselves by L or so</td></tr>
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We're going to do this despite the ridiculousness of lumping these all together.<br />
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I posted 51, Dominican Republic, in August of 2012. That's over three years ago. Three years, guys. I cooked it even before that. Since doing the cooking, I have had three children. We moved from Virginia to Michigan and I went from working to "staying home." Life is not at all recognizable from then.<br />
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<b>Stats</b><br />
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-Hit all six natively inhabited continents. Woo!<br />
Africa (9): <a href="http://hetzelkitchen.blogspot.com/2012/10/egypt.html?view=classic" target="_blank">Egypt</a>, <a href="http://hetzelkitchen.blogspot.com/2012/12/equatorial-guinea.html" target="_blank">Equatorial Guinea</a>, <a href="http://hetzelkitchen.blogspot.com/2013/01/eritrea.html" target="_blank">Eritrea</a>, <a href="http://hetzelkitchen.blogspot.com/2013/02/ethiopia.html" target="_blank">Ethiopia</a>, <a href="http://hetzelkitchen.blogspot.com/2013/10/gabon.html" target="_blank">Gabon</a>, <a href="http://hetzelkitchen.blogspot.com/2013/11/gambia-the.html" target="_blank">The Gambia</a>, <a href="http://hetzelkitchen.blogspot.com/2014/12/ghana.html" target="_blank">Ghana</a>, <a href="http://hetzelkitchen.blogspot.com/2015/08/guinea.html" target="_blank">Guinea</a>, <a href="http://hetzelkitchen.blogspot.com/2015/09/guinea-bissau.html" target="_blank">Guinea-Bissau</a><br />
Asia (2): <a href="http://hetzelkitchen.blogspot.com/2012/09/east-timor-timor-leste.html" target="_blank">East Timor</a>, <a href="http://hetzelkitchen.blogspot.com/2014/02/georgia.html" target="_blank">Georgia</a><br />
Europe (5): <a href="http://hetzelkitchen.blogspot.com/2013/01/estonia.html" target="_blank">Estonia</a>, <a href="http://hetzelkitchen.blogspot.com/2013/07/finland.html" target="_blank">Finland</a>, <a href="http://hetzelkitchen.blogspot.com/2013/07/france.html" target="_blank">France</a>, <a href="http://hetzelkitchen.blogspot.com/2014/10/germany.html" target="_blank">Germany</a>, <a href="http://hetzelkitchen.blogspot.com/2015/03/greece.html" target="_blank">Greece</a><br />
North America (6): <a href="http://hetzelkitchen.blogspot.com/2012/08/dominican-republic.html?q=dominican+republic" target="_blank">Dominican Republic</a>, <a href="http://hetzelkitchen.blogspot.com/2012/11/el-salvador.html?view=classic" target="_blank">El Salvador</a>, <a href="http://hetzelkitchen.blogspot.com/2015/07/grenada.html" target="_blank">Grenada</a>, <a href="http://hetzelkitchen.blogspot.com/2015/07/guatemala.html" target="_blank">Guatemala</a>, <a href="http://hetzelkitchen.blogspot.com/2015/11/haiti.html" target="_blank">Haiti</a>, <a href="http://hetzelkitchen.blogspot.com/2015/11/honduras.html" target="_blank">Honduras</a><br />
Oceania (1): <a href="http://hetzelkitchen.blogspot.com/2013/03/fiji.html" target="_blank">Fiji</a><br />
South America (2): <a href="http://hetzelkitchen.blogspot.com/2012/10/ecuador.html?view=classic" target="_blank">Ecuador</a>, <a href="http://hetzelkitchen.blogspot.com/2015/10/guyana.html" target="_blank">Guyana</a>,<br />
-Five speciality posts: <a href="http://hetzelkitchen.blogspot.com/2012/12/danielle-hetzels-blog.html" target="_blank">Danielle Hetzel's Blog</a>, <a href="http://hetzelkitchen.blogspot.com/2013/09/france-again.html" target="_blank">France Again</a>, <a href="http://hetzelkitchen.blogspot.com/2014/10/more-georgia-but-still-not-state.html" target="_blank">More Georgia</a>, <a href="http://hetzelkitchen.blogspot.com/2014/11/germany-failure.html" target="_blank">Germany The Failure</a>, <a href="http://hetzelkitchen.blogspot.com/2015/04/greece-2.html" target="_blank">Greece 2</a>,<br />
-Started Everyday International with these posts: <a href="http://hetzelkitchen.blogspot.com/2015/09/everyday-inernational.html" target="_blank">Everyday International</a>, <a href="http://hetzelkitchen.blogspot.com/2015/10/everyday-italy-spaghetti-alla-carbonara.html" target="_blank">Spaghetti alla Carbonara</a>, <a href="http://hetzelkitchen.blogspot.com/2015/11/everyday-china-sweet-and-sour-chicken.html" target="_blank">Sweet and Sour Chicken</a><br />
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<b>Thoughts</b><br />
<br />
There are a lot of things that I don't even remember about some of these countries. Kevin and I went through and took note of which ones we remembered in either a good or bad way and that is making up my Best and Worst lists this time. I really don't have much more to add. Sorry. We're just going to keep going though!<br />
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<i>Top Recipes</i><br />
<a href="http://hetzelkitchen.blogspot.com/2012/12/equatorial-guinea.html" target="_blank">Equatorial Guinea</a> (2)<br />
<a href="http://hetzelkitchen.blogspot.com/2013/01/eritrea.html" target="_blank">Eritrea</a> (1)<br />
<a href="http://hetzelkitchen.blogspot.com/2013/07/france.html" target="_blank">France</a> (1)<br />
<a href="http://hetzelkitchen.blogspot.com/2013/09/france-again.html" target="_blank">France Again</a> (1)<br />
<a href="http://hetzelkitchen.blogspot.com/2014/10/germany.html" target="_blank">Germany</a> (1)<br />
<a href="http://hetzelkitchen.blogspot.com/2014/12/ghana.html" target="_blank">Ghana</a> (1)<br />
<a href="http://hetzelkitchen.blogspot.com/2015/03/greece.html" target="_blank">Greece</a> (2)<br />
<a href="http://hetzelkitchen.blogspot.com/2015/11/haiti.html" target="_blank">Haiti</a> (2)<br />
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<i>Least Favorites</i><br />
<a href="http://hetzelkitchen.blogspot.com/2012/10/ecuador.html?view=classic" target="_blank">Ecuador</a> (1)<br />
<a href="http://hetzelkitchen.blogspot.com/2012/11/el-salvador.html" target="_blank">El Salvador</a> (1)<br />
<a href="http://hetzelkitchen.blogspot.com/2014/02/georgia.html" target="_blank">Georgia</a> (2)<br />
<a href="http://hetzelkitchen.blogspot.com/2015/08/guinea.html" target="_blank">Guinea</a> (2)<br />
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<b>Next 25</b><br />
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My biggest goal: take less than three years. I've already cooked a few. And everyone should get excited about I. That letter is going to rock.Hetzel Kitchenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07778189740199480334noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594129951146629165.post-91336702740202514232015-11-24T08:10:00.000-08:002015-11-24T08:10:32.470-08:00Everyday China: Sweet and Sour ChickenI once had someone that had taught English in China tell me that Sweet and Sour Chicken was one of the more authentic foods that people in America consider Chinese. Who knew, right? Whether this is true or not, I know that I find it delicious. So how do you get it other than takeout? Very differently than I would have thought.<br />
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I originally found the recipe <a href="http://damndelicious.net/2014/01/18/baked-sweet-sour-chicken/" target="_blank">here</a>, but now I notice it points back to <a href="http://www.melskitchencafe.com/sweet-and-sour-chicken-updated/" target="_blank">another site</a> with different proportions. I think I'll be using the original next time, and you'll see why!<br />
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The sauce is made by whisking apple cider vinegar, ketchup, soy sauce, sugar, and garlic powder. My initial credulity was ketchup. Really? But ketchup originated in Asia. This is one reason why you can find it spelled differently different places, since it was being translated from a different alphabet. So I call possibly legit.<br />
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With the sauce ready, I took cut-up chicken and seasoned them then stirred them around with some cornstarch. The original recipe says that they toss it all in a bag. I will be trying that next time.<br />
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I also doubled this recipe, and noticed that the original has way more meat the the same amount of sauce. I will be trying that too.<br />
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You're supposed to dip the chicken individually into egg after the cornstarch. Ain't nobody got time for that. I did it in batches and then pulled them out with a fork.<br />
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Your coated chicken then gets flash-fried, just enough to get your crispy outside. I also had to do this in batches since they wouldn't all fit in the pan together. After a minute or two, the chicken sits on some paper-towels to get the excess oil off, then right into a baking dish. Next batch!<br />
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After all of the chicken has been fried, you pour on the sweet and sour sauce and bake for an hour. Yeah, an hour. Then you look at your mound of dishes. This is certainly the downside of this one.<br />
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I simultaneously cooked some rice in the rice cooker. The hardest part is waiting for this to be done. You can just taste it in the air the whole time.<br />
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Just thinking about this has me putting it on the meal plan for next week. So delicious. In addition to the changes I mentioned above, I'm also hoping to add some pineapple and maybe bell peppers next time. And maybe make a quadruple batch. This stuff doesn't last long around here.Hetzel Kitchenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07778189740199480334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594129951146629165.post-73004095485951186742015-11-10T12:03:00.001-08:002015-11-10T12:03:42.677-08:00HondurasHonduras is in Central America bordering both the Caribbean Sea and the North Pacific Ocean. It is slightly larger than Tennessee and has almost 9 million people. The official language is Spanish and the capital is Tegucigalpa. It is one of the poorest countries in Latin America with the world's highest murder rate. Read more at the <a href="https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ho.html" target="_blank">CIA World Factbook</a>.<br />
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Sometimes it is really hard to decide what recipe to do for a country. There are too many options, or nothing out there are all. Then there are the countries where you do a search and Carne Asada comes up and you don't need to look anymore.<br />
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There were, of course, multiple versions of the recipe, so I did have to do some deciding. I ended up with <a href="http://travelbystove.palfreymedia.com/honduras-recipes-carneada-carnitas.asp" target="_blank">this recipe</a> from a blog doing the same thing that I am. Hello fellow world cooker!<br />
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Kevin's parents came to visit us in early September, so it seemed like a good time to plan this one. The weather was great and we had company, so why not make something delicious?<br />
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Flank steak is much nicer than the normal cut of meat I get so I really didn't want to mess it up.<br />
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This beauty got marinated in orange juice, garlic, and some other spices. The orange juice surprised me, but it was very consistent across different versions of the recipe I found. Maybe this is the integral ingredient?<br />
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One of the other ingredients was Worcestershire sauce. Did you know it has anchovies in it? I didn't until Brendan was diagnosed with his fish allergy. He has never had a reaction to this or Caesar dressing before so we don't think it is triggered by anchovies but we're usually still cautious. I put a little in, but less than what the recipe wanted.<br />
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The meat marinated in the fridge and I went to make the chimol that the recipes recommends, which is basically a fresh salsa like pico de gallo. Unfortunately I can't find the recipe I used, but it called for lots of coriander. I know that coriander and cilantro are used interchangeably at times. But when I put this all into my list I didn't make that connection. Instead I saw coriander, knew I had the spice, and didn't buy any. And fresh salsa without cilantro is...not fresh salsa. Instead we used the stuff Kevin and I had just canned recently.<br />
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Okay, time to grill the marinated meat! Steak on, sizzling, great! About two minutes later: nothing. We are out of gas. Whomp whomp.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7JFHwgkpvUM/Vh69LkPwGRI/AAAAAAABX2g/N8TbZPhbIQc/s1600/Oklahoma%2Band%2BSurrounding%2B031.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7JFHwgkpvUM/Vh69LkPwGRI/AAAAAAABX2g/N8TbZPhbIQc/s320/Oklahoma%2Band%2BSurrounding%2B031.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We got no farther than this</td></tr>
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We did the rest with the broiler in our oven. That was a little sad. Luckily it was still gorgeous out so at least we could eat outside even if not cook there.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It actually cooked up really nicely.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We ate outside almost every day over the summer. Do you know how much easier it is to clean up when you can just sweep everything off of the deck?</td></tr>
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The carne asada was good. Really, truly good. But not spend-that-much-money-on-a-cut-of-meat good. The flavor was really subtle. I understand that you want that with good meat, but this didn't seem to bring out the best in the meat.<br />
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Again, it was really good to eat. And obviously we had some cooking problems. We didn't get the grill sear or anything else like that. I'm sure that makes a difference in true carne asada. Maybe fresh-squeezed, heavily-pulped orange juice would help too. But it is probably not something I will be making on my own again soon.<br />
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Next country: <b>Hungary</b>Hetzel Kitchenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07778189740199480334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594129951146629165.post-75371668904136106242015-11-04T09:17:00.001-08:002015-11-04T09:17:18.368-08:00HaitiHaiti, along with the <a href="http://hetzelkitchen.blogspot.com/2012/08/dominican-republic.html" target="_blank">Dominican Republic</a>, is one of the two countries on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola. Haiti declared independence from France in 1804, making it one of the first post-colonial nations. It is currently considered the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.<br />
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French and Creole are the official languages. The country is slightly smaller than Maryland, with over 10 million citizens. Port-au-Prince is the capital. Read more at the <a href="https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ha.html" target="_blank">CIA World Factbook</a>.<br />
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I have never been to Haiti, but feel a slight connection. In high school, one of my close friends and her family went there often to help on medical mission trips. More recently, my little brother Patrick has gone two years in a row to help do some work there too. I have art up in the house that they have brought back for me and I have heard plenty of stories. I would love to go someday and try to help and get to know the people as well.<br />
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I reached out for some help on what I should make for Haiti. Might as well go to the people that have actually been there, right? They agreed on three things: fried plantain, rice and beans, and Poulet Aux Noix (Chicken with Cashew Nuts). They also agreed they hadn't ever actually seen them served with cashews, probably because of cost.<br />
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With their approval I went with <a href="http://www.gemmasliving.com/chicken-with-cashews-2/" target="_blank">this version</a> of the recipe, excluding the cashews. I also got some plantains to fry, but skipped the rice and beans so as to head off unnecessary stress. We've done those a few times.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiru1zgK9heBaRy2PJVJ5Yui5N57WgdhyphenhyphenqxQCFPYimu-jNDtuRRa_T57RX5X0wEOioJl7OzvEqDDyWm_JOc2ho1e1t72tX_bn1KSKQct1uYYjq5SsEE83q0aSmTSnYfh3QnhNhHwoxmxl8d/s1600/IMG_20150729_104420210.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiru1zgK9heBaRy2PJVJ5Yui5N57WgdhyphenhyphenqxQCFPYimu-jNDtuRRa_T57RX5X0wEOioJl7OzvEqDDyWm_JOc2ho1e1t72tX_bn1KSKQct1uYYjq5SsEE83q0aSmTSnYfh3QnhNhHwoxmxl8d/s320/IMG_20150729_104420210.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Washing a chicken with a lime was different but kinda made sense to me. I don't know how much flavor it imparted, but it can't hurt, right?</td></tr>
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This recipe had my least favorite thing: estimating. It told me the spices in a blend, but not the proportions. I just had to make it up. I had some fresh thyme and parsley growing on the deck so those made up some good volume, but from there used random amounts of everything else to make up the difference. Four tablespoons is a lot.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0nCk39rE0Wg/Vh69S2lIOBI/AAAAAAABX4k/Q-KBu5PFqYI/s1600/TH-O-O%2Band%2BHaiti%2B111.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0nCk39rE0Wg/Vh69S2lIOBI/AAAAAAABX4k/Q-KBu5PFqYI/s320/TH-O-O%2Band%2BHaiti%2B111.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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That marinated for a while and then got cooked in a Dutch oven - no liquid or anything added. After that, I removed everything from the pan, cooked some tomato paste for a bit, then put the chicken back in. It seemed like a bit more back and forth than was strictly necessary.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This tomato paste is great for when you just need a small amount!</td></tr>
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From there I added everything else, including the optional hot pepper straight from the garden!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Overabundant serrano plant for the win!</td></tr>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-I-kl4Pg43EI/Vh69WE4kqiI/AAAAAAABX5s/MIzkG63i_0A/s1600/TH-O-O%2Band%2BHaiti%2B117.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-I-kl4Pg43EI/Vh69WE4kqiI/AAAAAAABX5s/MIzkG63i_0A/s320/TH-O-O%2Band%2BHaiti%2B117.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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While that finished cooking, Brendan helped me slice the plantains and then sprinkle them with cinnamon. We (well, technically me) then fried them in some coconut oil.<br />
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Once the chicken was cooked, I served it over some brown rice and let everyone dig in!<br />
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Kevin: "Cook this again!" Yeah, it was really delicious. The chicken was moist and tasty and just good overall. And I even think I could modify the recipe a little bit to reduce some of the back and forth to make it a more weeknight-friendly dish.<br />
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The girls really liked the plantains. I liked plantains when I was in the Caribbean but have never found that magic here. I don't know if it is the cooking techniques or the freshness of the produce, but it just hasn't been the same.<br />
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Well this has certainly increased my desire to go to Haiti. Yum!<br />
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Next time: <b>Honduras</b>Hetzel Kitchenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07778189740199480334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594129951146629165.post-64676426817178119102015-10-14T14:30:00.001-07:002015-10-14T14:30:10.777-07:00GuyanaGuyana is a country in Northern South America between Suriname and Venezuela - one of the smaller ones on the top right corner on the map that people seem to have a hard time remembering. It is slightly smaller than Idaho. It has been both a Dutch and British colony. Three quarters of the population are Afro-Guyanese or Indo-Guyanese. A lot of indentured laborers came over from India and made a huge cultural and ethnic impact. Read more in the <a href="https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/gy.html" target="_blank">CIA World Factbook</a>.<br />
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This Indian influence explains the recipe that stood out to me when I was looking through lots of lists: <a href="http://guyanaoutpost.com/recipes/recipes-c.shtml#Chicken Curry" target="_blank">Chicken Curry</a>. Yes, a curry recipe that claims to be authentically Guyanese. This I had to try.<br />
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The recipe didn't specifically say you had to start with a full chicken, just "3 lb chicken cut up into small pieces." I decided I had to do this, though. Despite the fact I've done it a lot, I still don't enjoy it. I was also highly disappointed at the yield. I always read that it is more frugal to buy whole chickens, but this one had so little usable meat on it. I may have to rethink future purchases.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">How you entertain the youth - the pots and pans cabinet.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">10.3 oz!</td></tr>
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A little disheartening, but the show must go on.<br />
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I took "grind garlic, one onion, and pepper" to mean that I could puree them in a food processor. This then gets fried in a pan with some spices.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Garam Masala is a delicious mixture of spices that I use a lot in an Indian recipe I plan on doing for Everyday International soon. I used to have a version from a local spice shop, and that one was a bit spicier than this one. This is a bit sweeter - more cardamom and cinnamon perhaps.</td></tr>
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The rest from here is fairly straight forward. Add the meat and some chopped potatoes and cook. Then add water and more onion and cook some more. Voila! Or whatever they say in Guyana. The official language is English, so "Yay?"<br />
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Okay, anyway, time to eat!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Amelia?</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Emily? I really need to start labeling these right after they happen.</td></tr>
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The food was alright. That's really all that sticks out in my mind to say. For having curry powder and garam masala it didn't have a big flavor impact. I think I would have preferred the slightly spicier garam masala to the sweet one. Maybe that would have packed more of a punch.<div>
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And with that we have made it through the G's! Let's stay in the same region for another adventure. Just a little north for...</div>
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Next time: <b>Haiti</b></div>
Hetzel Kitchenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07778189740199480334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594129951146629165.post-40655530084923825382015-10-06T07:52:00.001-07:002015-10-06T07:52:31.648-07:00Everyday Italy: Spaghetti alla Carbonara<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Kevin and I went to Italy in 2009. More about that when I actually get to Italy in my regular country cooking. While we were there we had lots and lots of good food. Amazing food. One thing that I particularly remembered was Spaghetti alla Carbonara.</div>
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Fast forward to our first Valentines Day as a married couple and I wanted to make something delicious. I looked through my favorite cookbook and found a recipe one for that same Italian dish. Boom. Decision made. It was really good and became a regular item on the menu. (Unfortunately the chocolate cake that Kevin made on that Valentine's Day got knocked off of the counter by the cat.)</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOpdSK0SoQE6cNY9wZu7kcFEulZhmj7_mPuTa1Oyo2ct50mjZ7BQU7FtbZJ0h52dMcjq5hZj-4bRchAradZrU8hFMoly3_sH4SL0lSucJ7G3q2aPWRJ5c5r4WMlWAnHFaIw7i0Cac8PJmw/s1600/IMG_20150927_154625659.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOpdSK0SoQE6cNY9wZu7kcFEulZhmj7_mPuTa1Oyo2ct50mjZ7BQU7FtbZJ0h52dMcjq5hZj-4bRchAradZrU8hFMoly3_sH4SL0lSucJ7G3q2aPWRJ5c5r4WMlWAnHFaIw7i0Cac8PJmw/s320/IMG_20150927_154625659.jpg" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I highly recommend this cookbook!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Before each recipe it has a long description of what the recipe is and how they came to this version. They try a lot of different things and then taste test them all. I kinda want that job.</td></tr>
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Spaghetti alla Carbonara is basically spaghetti noodles in a bacon, cheese, and egg sauce. The process is really what I find cool.<br />
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First fry the bacon then cook it in some wine. This version uses white, but apparently there is some debate as to what is the most authentic.<br />
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While cooking the noodles, mix the cheeses, eggs, and some garlic. You don't cook this mixture at all. Once the noodles are done, you mix this in as soon as they are drained. The heat from the noodles cooks the egg enough to eat.<br />
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It is really really delicious. I have always liked my noodles drenched in a red sauce, so this was a delightful and exciting change.<br />
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The first time I made it I found it difficult to get everything timed correctly, which is important in this recipe. The noodles need to be hot at the right time! It definitely gets easier over time and I have got the whole thing down to about 20 minutes now. A nice yet fancy weeknight meal. Totally doable international food.Hetzel Kitchenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07778189740199480334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594129951146629165.post-69519746299346560172015-09-28T11:20:00.000-07:002015-09-28T11:30:42.663-07:00Everyday InternationalWriting a post about "authentic" recipes and cooking is a lot harder than I thought it would be. There is a lot of research and ingredient sourcing fairly complicated recipes. If you can understand the instructions in the first place.<br />
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Don't worry, I'm not planning on stopping. I have multiple posts in progress, and Hungary on the menu plan.<br />
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It is just that cooking internationally-inspired food does not have to be this hard. We have lots of dinners that are influenced by international cuisine and we love it. I'm going to have some posts of these Everyday International foods to both encourage myself and hopefully give you some easier ways to join in the fun.<br />
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These will be a lot less vetted than other things. I make no claims about authenticity, just about taste and process.<br />
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Italy, India, and Mexico will probably be some of the first countries we visit though this, but not the last.Hetzel Kitchenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07778189740199480334noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594129951146629165.post-81663898640814758942015-09-23T13:38:00.002-07:002015-09-23T13:38:30.492-07:00Guinea-BissauGuinea-Bissau is a small West African country bordering Guinea and Senegal. There has been a lot of unrest since they gained independence from Portugal in 1974. Their conveniently-named capital is Bissau. Read more in the <a href="https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/pu.html" target="_blank">CIA World Factbook</a>.<br />
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We're catching up to life a little bit here, although this was still about four months ago. I cannot for the life of me find the original recipe I used. I did Bolo a Moda da Guine Bissau - basically, Cake in the Style of Guinea-Bissau. <a href="http://travelbystove.palfreymedia.com/guinea-bissau-recipes-bolo-a-moda-da-guine-bissau-guinea-bissau-style-cake.asp" target="_blank">This one is fairly close</a>, but not exactly what I followed.<br />
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Oh well, we press on anyway.<br />
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This looks simple. A five ingredient cake. I can do this without anything special from the store! Butter, flour, sugar, eggs, and milk. Let's do this!<br />
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Did I not soften the butter ahead of time? Was I supposed to? The world may never know.<br />
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Brendan spent some time as photographer. I apologize.<br />
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Add some flour and milk and we're done. I seem to remember that there wasn't an exact measure for the milk, just "enough to make it like a batter." My least favorite kind of direction. I think I waffled a lot on whether it needed more or not.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">More milk?</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looks like I added some.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All whipped and fluffy and how can this not be good?</td></tr>
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Air bubbles. There were supposed to be air bubbles in it. Out of the oven it looked very encouraging.<br />
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Then, not-so-much.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Whomp whomp.</td></tr>
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Yeah, the whole thing fell. It almost halved itself and pulled away from the side of the pan and lost all fluffiness.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It used to be to the top of the crust-ridge.</td></tr>
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It basically tasted like the end result looked. Dense and spongy and almost not-fully-cooked. Not very good. We never ate more than one piece a person. Maybe if I had used the recipe I found this time? I'm not sure if my amount of milk made a difference, but I would guess it is very possible. Does too much milk make it more likely to fall?<br />
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Our tour de Guineas is complete and we head off to another hemisphere for a while. Pack some warm weather clothes.<br />
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Next time: <b>Haiti</b>Hetzel Kitchenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07778189740199480334noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594129951146629165.post-62414520884387176872015-08-27T06:25:00.001-07:002015-08-27T06:25:14.694-07:00GuineaGuinea is a coastal nation in West Africa. The official language is French and it is slightly smaller than Oregon. Read more <a href="https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/gv.html" target="_blank">here</a>!<br />
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According to what Google tells me is West Africa, we have already done The Gambia, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Benin, and Burkina Faso. I have already had a lot of difficulty finding recipes for countries in this region, so I decided to take a different tactic this time. I got out my trusty International cookbook and found a recipe that said it was from Western Africa. Do they make it specifically in Guinea? I don't know. But I am in the right region.<br />
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The recipe that caught my eye was Kaklo - Banana and Chile Fritters. How awesome does that sound? More of a side dish or appetizer, but I can work with that. I was originally going to do this in Colorado over Christmas, but things got a LITTLE busy. Turns out adding seven to nine people to a household of normally two can create some chaos.<br />
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When I finally got around to making it we were well past Christmas. I finally decided it was now or never and bought the ingredients. Luckily, none of them were that odd which made shopping a lot easier.<br />
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Step one: Mash together some banana, onion, tomato, and jalapeno.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Banana mash!</td></tr>
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Then you add some ginger, salt, flour, and banana. This then needs to rest.<br />
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While it rests, marvel that your twins are now old enough to sit in high chairs.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">99% sure this one is Emily.</td></tr>
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I used coconut oil to fry up the fritters. You can tell it was a cooler time of year because it was solid to begin with. The other day Kevin had to use coconut oil in pancakes and thought it was going bad because it was separating. Nope, just near the melting point. Yay science!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Globs of fritter mix in the oil.</td></tr>
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It is fairly photogenic:</div>
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Not-so-much on the edible.<br />
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We were not fans of this one. The combination sounded cool, but they were really dense and actually kinda bland. The texture reminded me of something that I don't like, but I can't put my finger on it. Really really oily too. This shouldn't be surprising for something fried, but it just oozed out because it got soaked up by everything in the mixture.<br />
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So no success here. So let's try next door, shall we?<br />
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Next time: <b>Guinea-Bissau</b>Hetzel Kitchenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07778189740199480334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594129951146629165.post-28903812539153390712015-07-22T13:31:00.002-07:002015-07-22T13:31:16.511-07:00GuatemalaUgh, losing everything you wrote is awesome. Let's try this again...<br />
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Guatemala is a Central American nation slightly smaller than the size of Pennsylvania. There are over 14.5 million people living there, and the capital city is Guatemala City. Learn more on the <a href="https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/gt.html" target="_blank">CIA World Factbook</a>.<br />
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I didn't have anything in mind when looking for a recipe to make for Guatemala. When I saw <a href="http://www.mayanfamiliescanada.org/recipes.htm" target="_blank">Guatemalan Tacos</a> (second on the page), however, I figured it was a match made in heaven. We do Taco Tuesdays almost every week, but these were definitely different than the heavily seasoned meat + flour tortillas we were used to. Plus there were ingredients I wasn't used to using. Perfect!<br />
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This was also the first around the world cooking after the twins were born. In fact, they were four months old by this time. Wasn't going to get anything done before that.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Amelia left, Emily right</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-b9T1V8knZzw/VJOZ2Nd69QI/AAAAAAABGPI/QlkKnU8ACRQ/s1600/C%2BPreschool%2Band%2BHalloween%2B2014%2B041.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-b9T1V8knZzw/VJOZ2Nd69QI/AAAAAAABGPI/QlkKnU8ACRQ/s320/C%2BPreschool%2Band%2BHalloween%2B2014%2B041.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Around the time of this dinner</td></tr>
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So anyway, back to cooking. Boil some potatoes and cook some beef and onions. So far, nothing new or exciting. Except that my tacos don't usually have potatoes in them.<br />
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The tomatillos, garlic, jalapeno, and cilantro all get blended together, then the avocados. The tomatillos are something I know about but have never really used at home. This combination of stuff makes a kinda glowy-green glob.<br />
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The meat and potatoes mixture goes inside the corn tortillas, while the goo goes on top. Tacos!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Brendan was on the all-dressing diet at the time.</td></tr>
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These were disappointingly bland, at least for our taste. The filling was meh. Wrapping potatoes in a corn tortilla isn't exactly my idea of a good time. And while the sauce had a kick from the jalapeno, it was kinda boring. Spice but no flavor. Not complex at all.<br />
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So that was our adventure with Guatemala. It will not be going on our Taco Tuesday rotation, but it was more than edible. I still like flour tortillas better, though.<br />
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Next time: <b>Guinea</b>Hetzel Kitchenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07778189740199480334noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594129951146629165.post-14935589946507025872015-07-07T20:54:00.000-07:002015-07-08T12:04:11.871-07:00GrenadaYou know what? I could write out a bunch of facts about Grenada for you, or I could just l<a href="https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/gj.html" target="_blank">ink to the source</a>. The CIA Factbook is full of info. And it is doing stuff like this that gets me so far behind. So instead, let me summarize.<br />
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Grenada is in the Caribbean. It is small, like most islands. Twice the size of DC, it was "discovered" by Columbus himself. Oh, and we went there on our honeymoon cruise.<br />
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It was a Sunday and my brother's birthday, so we took a taxi to a Church and also found a restaurant with WiFi so we could send him a birthday message. Grenada is known as the "Isle of Spice" because of all of the spices grown and sold there, so we decided to order some stuff at the restaurant. Kevin wanted to try a "Cheeseburger in Paradise."<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFF0mX7Dnn_Ep1zO2k2QmVCrjH2wHNe19aMRAweV7xrg7kIwlEOKzZbqFN-G96W-9_jHRBUFzD8IvoLhna3s6SvjHh1uIm69PpG-MwkGQvAFxuBctsddy-gJrDYeb2nkrHYAgh8aW6Se6D/s1600/Second+Half+of+Honeymoon+170.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFF0mX7Dnn_Ep1zO2k2QmVCrjH2wHNe19aMRAweV7xrg7kIwlEOKzZbqFN-G96W-9_jHRBUFzD8IvoLhna3s6SvjHh1uIm69PpG-MwkGQvAFxuBctsddy-gJrDYeb2nkrHYAgh8aW6Se6D/s320/Second+Half+of+Honeymoon+170.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
It was awful.<br />
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So instead we went and explored and looked for some spice shops and stands. We know we must have been getting into local flair because people kept asking if we were lost.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8RdY2Lezx3_RbieMEDeWnSyJglBvzWpixbu_eFzElL8l0liQgih1eod2HmVkZwZHL70_VG52GE9umjS83Wd1IkstS0paa2OBnojBsKDOKFpVHdsf0PGapW3rpKvEiEVcrmdYocuH7nrPf/s1600/Kevin%2527s+Camera+Dump+499.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8RdY2Lezx3_RbieMEDeWnSyJglBvzWpixbu_eFzElL8l0liQgih1eod2HmVkZwZHL70_VG52GE9umjS83Wd1IkstS0paa2OBnojBsKDOKFpVHdsf0PGapW3rpKvEiEVcrmdYocuH7nrPf/s320/Kevin%2527s+Camera+Dump+499.JPG" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Parliament building, destroyed by a hurricane.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjubKR5ufyY9OrmOGoGgmK3YlA9h-CutuY8p5Z2sFIL5YJuvJFkUwdSPA47k8G5anh9OdyIlfyV0s8XETuamKCpB5SjmLJBUazFo9Zzp7Gh3_zcqfnaKB_QlPRoLfxQQ2Vx7MfW_z_o34Gs/s1600/Second+Half+of+Honeymoon+180.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjubKR5ufyY9OrmOGoGgmK3YlA9h-CutuY8p5Z2sFIL5YJuvJFkUwdSPA47k8G5anh9OdyIlfyV0s8XETuamKCpB5SjmLJBUazFo9Zzp7Gh3_zcqfnaKB_QlPRoLfxQQ2Vx7MfW_z_o34Gs/s320/Second+Half+of+Honeymoon+180.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Church, also destroyed. They were trying to get the funds to restore it.</td></tr>
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We eventually found spice shops and some more authentic food for Kevin. Crab spiced and cooked back in its own shell. He said it was delicious.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5sJc8EgI1bcEJlvJG5ynG1MxeOgRHvEQbM95uuDAEFhMMU8J909e_f5lOf412A6WsxXDG8iFMVTw2RczgyRp_xQ-bsSXNeHXhuN1EL-3lmpXXDe__YieLfLHWsTWmKrzTGUQdNp99KTJD/s1600/Second+Half+of+Honeymoon+194.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5sJc8EgI1bcEJlvJG5ynG1MxeOgRHvEQbM95uuDAEFhMMU8J909e_f5lOf412A6WsxXDG8iFMVTw2RczgyRp_xQ-bsSXNeHXhuN1EL-3lmpXXDe__YieLfLHWsTWmKrzTGUQdNp99KTJD/s320/Second+Half+of+Honeymoon+194.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Goodbye, Grenada!</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu4uHIfbapfUOSf4Lq9rOyUX8NPaZWVneipDkCMnWmUwRjsnLiw7_KGIA9ZLkTYyBbkV_GBR2LsSUWaPr3oBFQY6IeV9hSp_Doce-Muh4jeJhCu-4ZZAMJt9eqvO01OPm9BJt7cKrdveHT/s1600/Second+Half+of+Honeymoon+174.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu4uHIfbapfUOSf4Lq9rOyUX8NPaZWVneipDkCMnWmUwRjsnLiw7_KGIA9ZLkTYyBbkV_GBR2LsSUWaPr3oBFQY6IeV9hSp_Doce-Muh4jeJhCu-4ZZAMJt9eqvO01OPm9BJt7cKrdveHT/s1600/Second+Half+of+Honeymoon+174.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu4uHIfbapfUOSf4Lq9rOyUX8NPaZWVneipDkCMnWmUwRjsnLiw7_KGIA9ZLkTYyBbkV_GBR2LsSUWaPr3oBFQY6IeV9hSp_Doce-Muh4jeJhCu-4ZZAMJt9eqvO01OPm9BJt7cKrdveHT/s1600/Second+Half+of+Honeymoon+174.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu4uHIfbapfUOSf4Lq9rOyUX8NPaZWVneipDkCMnWmUwRjsnLiw7_KGIA9ZLkTYyBbkV_GBR2LsSUWaPr3oBFQY6IeV9hSp_Doce-Muh4jeJhCu-4ZZAMJt9eqvO01OPm9BJt7cKrdveHT/s1600/Second+Half+of+Honeymoon+174.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu4uHIfbapfUOSf4Lq9rOyUX8NPaZWVneipDkCMnWmUwRjsnLiw7_KGIA9ZLkTYyBbkV_GBR2LsSUWaPr3oBFQY6IeV9hSp_Doce-Muh4jeJhCu-4ZZAMJt9eqvO01OPm9BJt7cKrdveHT/s1600/Second+Half+of+Honeymoon+174.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu4uHIfbapfUOSf4Lq9rOyUX8NPaZWVneipDkCMnWmUwRjsnLiw7_KGIA9ZLkTYyBbkV_GBR2LsSUWaPr3oBFQY6IeV9hSp_Doce-Muh4jeJhCu-4ZZAMJt9eqvO01OPm9BJt7cKrdveHT/s320/Second+Half+of+Honeymoon+174.JPG" width="240" /></a><br />
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Anyway, Grenada = spices and good food. So I knew that I wanted a recipe that would really bring that to the forefront. <a href="http://www.caribbeanchoice.com/recipes/recipe.asp?recipe=70" target="_blank">Jerk chicken wings with plenty of spices</a>? Score!</div>
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I actually started this the night before for once. Yay for planning. Not yay for separating the wing tips from the rest of the wings.<br />
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The rest of the prep was a lot less painful than cutting up the chicken. Throw a bunch of stuff in a food processor and whirrrrrrr.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5R2h93ofULo6faDAJ8cPPhyh38wbO2YlcEIKaW3hEVLkzS7i6NN8fu4hfDwh7DZcqRd98SQOZ88v2Ud5RxwC1fddGa5xuJTyEVnQHBItjxHF01NyX6q23fMsdvgyRiY8Uxn-PKMipwq1U/s1600/20141115_193339.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5R2h93ofULo6faDAJ8cPPhyh38wbO2YlcEIKaW3hEVLkzS7i6NN8fu4hfDwh7DZcqRd98SQOZ88v2Ud5RxwC1fddGa5xuJTyEVnQHBItjxHF01NyX6q23fMsdvgyRiY8Uxn-PKMipwq1U/s320/20141115_193339.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pickled jalapenos!</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxC1HsyyuSaEtqL1tdjEUBddhzxonBY01FqQrjMfnBSJ7eZiq1nufTJ1xArKdBF2faorGfurm_qqU6dg7qo-LlpSjsRB4l-xYGgOrPgkQL-QPa5KvXtyQvqYNn-W5BYi6m0URJKoWS9PJa/s1600/20141115_191848.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxC1HsyyuSaEtqL1tdjEUBddhzxonBY01FqQrjMfnBSJ7eZiq1nufTJ1xArKdBF2faorGfurm_qqU6dg7qo-LlpSjsRB4l-xYGgOrPgkQL-QPa5KvXtyQvqYNn-W5BYi6m0URJKoWS9PJa/s320/20141115_191848.jpg" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAufh9GCyyCjERyEzm-K4ES2kamkrU4r2hNIRLcEBWR0Lda6UXWY36BGY_SQI1-H_ea0llAyQoqw32buwXm52JdP9q4d62uuvNMqdEXGzPNbfDUXMabx_HLruNmJTcAH3Y-pOJBP-wj0KP/s1600/20141115_194206.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAufh9GCyyCjERyEzm-K4ES2kamkrU4r2hNIRLcEBWR0Lda6UXWY36BGY_SQI1-H_ea0llAyQoqw32buwXm52JdP9q4d62uuvNMqdEXGzPNbfDUXMabx_HLruNmJTcAH3Y-pOJBP-wj0KP/s320/20141115_194206.jpg" width="180" /></a></div>
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And then there is the worst part of wings...taking all of the tips off. So much chopping just to get rid of a little bit of bone and skin. Does anyone know what happens if you leave them on? Just waste some marinade?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6qJeSRZuw0w7ZISd8rWnEZ7_sTb60jfTFCJAOQIqN7RtkFShw1BRk_h626DA29clVeSOSHkuvnvexMzHDXDkqAwY2VRSodQGTlTTR-3N4v5vAW9-vsoBG3PVvxVcd8WefQS6dgjwgiypS/s1600/20141115_191153.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6qJeSRZuw0w7ZISd8rWnEZ7_sTb60jfTFCJAOQIqN7RtkFShw1BRk_h626DA29clVeSOSHkuvnvexMzHDXDkqAwY2VRSodQGTlTTR-3N4v5vAW9-vsoBG3PVvxVcd8WefQS6dgjwgiypS/s320/20141115_191153.jpg" width="180" /></a></div>
Allowing this to marinate overnight helped the flavor and my stress level. I used the extra time the next day to make some Coconut Rice, which is listed in the Mark Bittman cookbook as being "Caribbean" although it is also very popular in Southeast Asia. There was a variation for Coconut Rice and Beans, which I took advantage of. You cook the rice in coconut milk and then add some beans a little bit before it is done. Ta-da!<br />
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The wings continued to be fairly easy and just needed to be cooked. I'm not sure I followed the instructions correctly, but I tried. Oiled rack over a foil-lined pan. This seems right, right?</div>
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Grenada lived up to our memory of spices and smells and warmth. The wings had a bit of a kick and plenty of flavor. And other than having to chop off the wing tips, they weren't that difficult. Maybe I should make my own wings more often?</div>
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The rice, however...not-so-much. It was thick and just too much. I don't think we ate any of the leftovers.</div>
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I'm going to try really hard to catch up here soon. I promise.</div>
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Next time: <b>Guatemala</b></div>
Hetzel Kitchenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07778189740199480334noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594129951146629165.post-69878694744204290692015-04-25T19:28:00.003-07:002015-04-25T19:29:38.740-07:00Greece 2Sometime in high school (maybe?), my friend Bill decided that we should all get together and make Greek food. There may have been precedent for doing an ethnic food day, I don't know. All I remember is that somehow I, who didn't know much more than boiling noodles and making frozen pizzas, was picking out a recipe called something like "Athena Pudding" to make from scratch.<br />
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The only thing I remember about the recipe is that there was orange zest in it. I was really weirded out by putting the outside of my orange in a dish. I didn't like the end result. His mom said she did. I am still suspicious.<br />
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Bill made some kind of meatballs and they were good. I believe Amy may have made something too. It was a long time ago. But I guess the seeds of ethnic cooking were set?<br />
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This time I avoided the pudding and skipped the meatballs. I decided to go all out with what I thought of as Greek: lamb. Not only that, but lamb with a cucumber dip (tzatiki) and some spanakopita. Bring on the food!<br />
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This was last spring, so there were still no babies and Kevin's dad was visiting to help build our deck. In fact, I think this may have been right after we went down to Greektown in Detroit and got something slightly more authentic.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">May be hard to tell, but that deck had been mostly torn down and was starting to be built back up.</td></tr>
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The lamb recipe was from the Mark Bittman cookbook <a href="http://hetzelkitchen.blogspot.com/2013/07/france.html" target="_blank">I've used before</a>. It was really simple - take a butterflied leg of lamb and rub it with fresh thyme, garlic, orange zest, salt, and pepper. Grill. I was much more comfortable with orange zest by this time. Not with finding butterflied leg of lamb, however. Turns out the stuff at Costco is pretty close, you just have to cut it a bit to make it lay flat. Woo!<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CHSr73phny0/VEqtm8KJkGI/AAAAAAABBiY/7-8lXakbpbE/s1600/To%2Bthe%2BGirls%2B255.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CHSr73phny0/VEqtm8KJkGI/AAAAAAABBiY/7-8lXakbpbE/s1600/To%2Bthe%2BGirls%2B255.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
The other two recipes were much more complicated - they were both from my standard international cookbook.<br />
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The tzatiki needs you to strain some yogurt with some cheesecloth. My understanding is this is basically how you make yogurt cheese. It was supposed to lose about a third of its volume. It unfortunately didn't seem to do much for me.<br />
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You also have to matchstick some cucumbers and then try to get all of the water out my pressing down on it with something heavy. This was marginally more successful.</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--iVqn6wfHj0/VEqtZArb50I/AAAAAAABBhI/BSyRIKjUP_w/s1600/To%2Bthe%2BGirls%2B244.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--iVqn6wfHj0/VEqtZArb50I/AAAAAAABBhI/BSyRIKjUP_w/s1600/To%2Bthe%2BGirls%2B244.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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The Spanakopita Peloponniso needed me to buy some phyllo pastry. It said I needed four sheets. The packaging said it came with two packages...rolls...something or other in it. I thought it seemed excessive to buy two boxes. Turns out it was a good idea. There are actually a LOT of sheets of dough in each "roll." Yes, you may laugh at my ineptitude.<br />
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Anyway, first I had to wilt some spinach. The less-happy greens got mixed with onion, leeks, and some other things like feta, spices, and egg.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wH8RJFg37Yk/VEqtgcnCffI/AAAAAAABBiA/4aNGWk_Lfik/s1600/To%2Bthe%2BGirls%2B252.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wH8RJFg37Yk/VEqtgcnCffI/AAAAAAABBiA/4aNGWk_Lfik/s1600/To%2Bthe%2BGirls%2B252.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Having cute help helps.</td></tr>
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This is where the sheet thing comes into play. You are supposed to brush the sheets with olive oil and then place some of the spinach mixture into it. This is about the time that I realized my original understanding of sheets was incorrect.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OWObxTFHUT4/VEqtsS5x2GI/AAAAAAABBjA/kTkgMOXdE-A/s1600/To%2Bthe%2BGirls%2B260.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OWObxTFHUT4/VEqtsS5x2GI/AAAAAAABBjA/kTkgMOXdE-A/s1600/To%2Bthe%2BGirls%2B260.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">THIS is what one sheet is.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-61jlSa--JWw/VEqtuY3nllI/AAAAAAABBjQ/rJQX_rEjPPw/s1600/To%2Bthe%2BGirls%2B262.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-61jlSa--JWw/VEqtuY3nllI/AAAAAAABBjQ/rJQX_rEjPPw/s1600/To%2Bthe%2BGirls%2B262.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Filling on the four sheets.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All rolled up (kinda), since that was the next step. </td></tr>
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While this baked, the boys grilled the lamb. Unfortunately the grill was off of the deck because of the construction and I don't have any pictures.<br />
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With things getting cooked, I was able to finish the tzatiki. The supposedly reduced yogurt and the dried cucumber got mixed with yogurt, garlic, vinegar, salt and pepper.<br />
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The foods are cooked and mixed...let's eat!<br />
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Six months later, at Christmas, Kevin's dad would insist on making this lamb for Christmas dinner. Yeah, that was the reaction it got.<br />
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The food overall was quite good. The lamb was cooked the right amount, the tzatiki was a good dip and the spanikopita worked despite some of my missteps and horrible wrap job. I really enjoy tzatiki and kinda want to incorporate it into other meals that I make.<br />
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Also, if you want to make some lamb, this was super easy. It wasn't nearly as intimidating as I thought it would be. It also wasn't as expensive to buy as one might think. Good for special occasions. Like Christmas.<br />
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Kevin insisted I include a picture to prove that the deck got done. Here is one from Brendan's birthday.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HP3o2aCNVVE/VJOmlvRTs-I/AAAAAAABJr0/Z3vUzojoy4U/s1600/Kevin's%2BSummer%2B2014%2B337.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HP3o2aCNVVE/VJOmlvRTs-I/AAAAAAABJr0/Z3vUzojoy4U/s1600/Kevin%27s%2BSummer%2B2014%2B337.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
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Next time: GrenadaHetzel Kitchenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07778189740199480334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594129951146629165.post-1294214087164553842015-03-05T12:44:00.000-08:002015-03-05T12:44:32.472-08:00Greece<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AFlag_of_Greece.svg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="By (of code) cs:User:-xfi- (own code) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons"><img alt="Flag of Greece" height="213" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5c/Flag_of_Greece.svg/512px-Flag_of_Greece.svg.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AFlag_of_Greece.svg" target="_blank">via the Wikimedia Commons</a></td></tr>
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<b>Location</b>: Southern Europe, bordering the Aegean, Ionian, and Mediterranean Seas; between Albania and Turkey</div>
<b>Capital</b>: Athens<br />
<b>Area</b>: Over 130,000 sq km; 97th biggest in the world<br />
Slightly smaller than Alabama<br />
<b>Highest poin</b>t: Mount Olympus<br />
<b>Religion</b>: 98% Greek Orthodox<br />
<b>Population</b>: Just over 10.75 million; 81st largest in the world<br />
<b>Names of Some of Their Political Parties</b>:<br />
Anticapitalist Left Cooperation for the Overthrow<br />
Golden Dawn<br />
Popular Orthodox Rally<br />
<b>Three Main Foreign Relations Issues, according to the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs</b>:<br />
Turkish challenges to Greek sovereignty in the Aegean Sea<br />
Legitimacy of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus<br />
Naming dispute of Macedonia (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macedonia_naming_dispute" target="_blank">see more here</a>)<br />
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<i>Sources: <a href="https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/gr.html" target="_blank">CIA World Factbook</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greece" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a></i><br />
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Within the last two year or so, it seems like most of the news out of Greece has been the economic crisis in Europe and a lot of angst over the Euro. In school, you learn a lot about the history of Ancient Greece: the gods, the philosophers, the culture. In this house, it is all about the food.<br />
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If Kevin were to pick one cuisine to eat for the rest of his life, he would pick Mexican (or at least our American understand of it). I would choose Italian. Brendan, I'm fairly certain, would go with Greek. His favorite food since before he was one has always been olives. Green, black, kalamata: it doesn't matter. We use those as bribes more effectively than candy. He loves "white salad cheese" AKA feta. And the boy can put away some lamb. So, if he had understood what was going on, he would have been pumped.<br />
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There are certainly a lot more Greek restaurants and access to Greek food in the states than, say, Ghana. I felt it was something I could definitely do more than once. Plus, I found so many good recipes. I picked a few from my international cookbooks and started sourcing ingredients. And got hungry.<br />
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For the first meal I picked two recipes from my International Cuisine cookbook that I've used <a href="http://hetzelkitchen.blogspot.com/2011/01/argentina.html" target="_blank">a few</a> <a href="http://hetzelkitchen.blogspot.com/2011/10/china-day-1.html" target="_blank">times before</a>. The first was Afelia, which is fried pork with coriander. It was supposed to be served with Pourgouri Pilafi, or pilaf of cracked wheat. Neither one of these is what I, in my limited knowledge, would consider American-Greek or anything, so I thought it would be a good thing to try.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kzHX8B010TU/VEqswWOBhNI/AAAAAAABBdA/nNVFzIRmBD0/s1600/To%2Bthe%2BGirls%2B129.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kzHX8B010TU/VEqswWOBhNI/AAAAAAABBdA/nNVFzIRmBD0/s1600/To%2Bthe%2BGirls%2B129.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2h64CnkFrm0/VEqs3T2ZM0I/AAAAAAABBdY/7HcoLw-atFI/s1600/To%2Bthe%2BGirls%2B132.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2h64CnkFrm0/VEqs3T2ZM0I/AAAAAAABBdY/7HcoLw-atFI/s1600/To%2Bthe%2BGirls%2B132.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a>For the Afelia, you use a pork tenderloin and marinate it in wine, salt, pepper, coriander, and even a cinnamon stick. Then it gets sauteed after draining the marinade. Yummy smells ensue.<br />
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While the meat was draining, I worked on the Pilafi. After cooking some onion, you saute it with crumbled, uncooked vermicelli, which is very fine pasta. Through this blog I have learned to pre-cook rice, but not pasta before. The noodles are supposed to absorb the oil I was using for the onions.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4Hyz4faW-hI/VEqtGfP0VWI/AAAAAAABBe0/CY0jhPKs5wk/s1600/To%2Bthe%2BGirls%2B143.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4Hyz4faW-hI/VEqtGfP0VWI/AAAAAAABBe0/CY0jhPKs5wk/s1600/To%2Bthe%2BGirls%2B143.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
Then you add chicken stock and the pourgouri, which is cracked wheat. Wait, doesn't this sound familiar? I used the same thing for <a href="http://hetzelkitchen.blogspot.com/2011/07/burundi.html" target="_blank">Burundi </a>and <a href="http://hetzelkitchen.blogspot.com/2011/01/armenia.html" target="_blank">Armenia</a>. I wouldn't have guessed that this would be a repeating ingredient but there you go. They're not exactly next to each other geographically, either.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Homemade stock that I forgot to defrost on time...</td></tr>
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Then it all gets boiled together in the stock for a while while you finish up the meat! The remaining meat marinade gets adjusted and cooked to create a sauce. You toss the pork in this so it is all warm together.<br />
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I don't know why I don't have a plated picture, but there you are. Pork with a side of noodles and wheat. The verdict? Delicious!</div>
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The pork had plenty of flavor, and not something that I would consider stereotypical - at least not in my palate. The pilafi was a nice compliment - yummy, but not overpowering the meat. And, really, it was one of the easier dishes on the international cooking scale. Yay!</div>
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I was happy, but I knew I needed to do some more with Greece. Where is the lamb? These aren't the dishes I normally see on a Greek menu! So I continued on for another adventure.</div>
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Next time: Greece Revisited</div>
Hetzel Kitchenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07778189740199480334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594129951146629165.post-76402706507920569772014-12-16T11:56:00.001-08:002014-12-16T11:56:34.733-08:00Ghana<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Ghana.svg#mediaviewer/File:Flag_of_Ghana.svg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Flag of Ghana.svg" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/19/Flag_of_Ghana.svg/1200px-Flag_of_Ghana.svg.png" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i>"<a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Ghana.svg#mediaviewer/File:Flag_of_Ghana.svg">Flag of Ghana</a>". Licensed under Public domain via <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/">Wikimedia Commons</a>.</i><br />
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<i>Background</i>: First sub-Saharan African country in colonial Africa to gain independence<br />
<i>Location</i>: West African, bordering Cote d'Ivoire and Togo<br />
<i>Size</i>: Almost 240,000 sq km; 82nd largest in the world<br />
Slightly smaller than Oregon<br />
<i>Population</i>: About 25.75 million; 49th largest in the world<br />
Source: <i><a href="https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/gh.html" target="_blank">CIA Worldfactbook</a></i><br />
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This one was a while ago, so bear with my memory. This was during that glorious time where first-trimester wooziness was gone and third-trimester oh-my-god-I-only-want-to-sleep hadn't started. What better to do with that time than cook African food?<br />
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As always, there was a lot of searching involved. It was a bit easier to find Ghanaian recipes than many other countries. There were lists like the <a href="http://buzzghana.com/ghanaian-food/" target="_blank">10 Ghanaian Foods You Must Eat Before You Die</a>. Fact: I found this list after I did this cooking and picked some different foods because I couldn't remember that I had already done Ghana. AKA pregnancy brain. Now I really want <a href="http://www.food.com/recipe/strawberry-fool-ghana-170303" target="_blank">Strawberry Fool</a>.<br />
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But anyway, in the end, this recipe for <a href="http://ghanaianfood.blogspot.com/2010/05/chicken-stew-with-rice-and-plantain.html" target="_blank">Chicken Stew with Rice and Plantain</a> was the winner. I don't entirely remember why, other than I hadn't made it yet and it didn't involve peanuts. Hurray!<br />
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Separating a chicken? I've got this down. Although, looking at the pictures, I'm pretty sure I bought one already cut up. Totally worth the little extra money.<br />
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Then some pepper, salt, garlic, and Maggi cubes. Remember those? We also used them for <a href="http://hetzelkitchen.blogspot.com/2013/11/gambia-the.html?q=maggi" target="_blank">The Gambia</a>. I love getting to reuse some of these things!<br />
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For some reason I really like seasoning chicken like this before you cook it. It just seems to permeate a little better. This particular cooking method was a little different than what I usually do. No oil or butter. No water. And the amount of time to cook was variable depending on the type. I didn't know what "layer" and "broiler" types meant, so I just kept a watch on it.</div>
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There was also a chance to use my missing-lid blender for the tomatoes and peppers. I don't specifically remember what kind of peppers I used, although I'm fairly certain we didn't use 10-12 like is recommended. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Look how clean my counters were back then...</td></tr>
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So, you steam the chicken, and then fry it. I like where this is going...</div>
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Then you take out the chicken and start adding other things to the chicken-y oil. Onions (always onions), curry powder, tomato puree, and then the blender mixture.</div>
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In the meantime, I also started working on the plantains. Brendan colored.</div>
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The plantains basically get salted and fried. The chicken gets added to the onion, tomato, etc mixture and simmered for a while. In my case, I also started up my rice cooker. Things start to come together.</div>
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Can we talk for a second about how good curry powder smells? I really don't know why I don't use it more often. I tend to associate the word curry with Indian or Thai cuisine, which is where the terminology originated. Also, a curry powder is not just one thing, like basil or turmeric. It is a mixture of spices, and therefore not necessarily universally the same. Now you know. (Thanks <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curry" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a>.)</div>
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Chicken on the rice. Plantains on the side. A salad for good measure. Time to eat!</div>
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To be fair, this was quite a while ago. But, from what I remember, we liked it. It was good. Spicy. Flavorful. Good. Really spicy</div>
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I wouldn't say it wholly unique, but then again after you do a lot of food from one area that isn't too surprising. It is a slightly different way of doing something that ends up a bit familiar. But still tasty. Another African win. Yay!</div>
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Next time: <b>Greece</b></div>
Hetzel Kitchenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07778189740199480334noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8594129951146629165.post-83372169229342633072014-11-11T13:10:00.002-08:002014-11-11T13:10:25.654-08:00Germany: The FailureFirst, a note. The following happened over the winter, but I am writing this in the fall. Ridiculous, yes? You want to know what is harder than having time and energy to cook and write while having three kids two and under? Having the time and energy to cook and write while having a toddler and being pregnant with twins. It laid me out. I could barely make dinner every day, nonetheless something special.<br />
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But - despite lack of sleep, lots of nursing, and more diaper changes, I feel much better now. So let's get back to this, okay? Starting with writing about the things I did a while ago.</div>
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Anyway, Germany. My international cookbook had a recipe the really appealed to me: Schweinelendchen im Schwarzbratmantel (Pork Tenderloin in a Dark Bread Crust). You take a seared pork loin and wrap it in a crust of rye bread crumbs, ground pork, and eggs. You then poach it. Delicious, no? Worth coming back to Germany even after <a href="http://hetzelkitchen.blogspot.com/2014/10/germany.html" target="_blank">already doing one day of it</a>!</div>
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This was supposed to be served with a pork or beef demi-glace. Great! Where do I get that? Or how do I make it? I went to the store, certain I could find it.</div>
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Do you know what demi-glace is? It is a stock plus an espangnole sauce. A what? Some stock and roux and a bunch of other stuff. It is supposed to be delicious and awesome and not something you really just buy in a store. You could order some online for a ridiculous amount of money. Or I could make it by following a recipe like <a href="http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/demi-glace-recipe.html" target="_blank">this one.</a> This included finding 7 pounds of beef marrow bones and a lot of other things that required me to follow links on how to make them. Very much a meta-recipe. Given how tired and off I was at the time I just...gave up. I had already bought all of the other ingredients (except rye bread crumbs), but I couldn't do it. Just looking at making a demi-glace made me want to go to sleep.</div>
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So I apologize, Germany. You did not get the look I had hoped to give you. Maybe someday. We'll meet and have a date. With beer.</div>
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Next time: <b>Ghana</b></div>
Hetzel Kitchenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07778189740199480334noreply@blogger.com6